


To Break a Curse

by AmeliaAsherWrites, HeartofaHatter, TheDarkOne, Wickedly_Hooked (TheDarkOne)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dark, Betrayal, F/M, Green Zelena, Jefferson is high, Old Captain Hook | Killian Jones, Roleplay Style, Sex Pollen, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2020-10-18 17:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20642588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmeliaAsherWrites/pseuds/AmeliaAsherWrites, https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartofaHatter/pseuds/HeartofaHatter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkOne/pseuds/TheDarkOne, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkOne/pseuds/Wickedly_Hooked
Summary: Wish Hook enlists the services of the Mad Hatter to send him to a realm with a powerful sorcerer to help break his curse of the poisoned heart. Little does he know, this powerful sorcerer is the Wicked Witch of the West and she is eager to learn more about this curse and the pirate invading her realm.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This works has been written in role play style between three authors.

**To Break a Curse**  
_A Wish Realm to Oz AU_

_ _

Killian

The old pirate twiddled his ringed fingers on the table of the tavern, the hood drawn up to conceal his gray locks and sharp eyes. He was always listening. There had to be some sign of Alice. But there was never anything new pertaining to her whereabouts.

Oh, there had been the fortuitous news of the occasion when a look-a-like of himself had appeared—a much trimmer, yet somehow more devilishly handsome version of himself—and the old pirate didn’t hesitate in ridding the realm of his doppelgänger. Not before taking a vial of his blood first. The other version of himself had something he did not: a full life of potential, not the regrets of poor choices which caused him to lose Alice. All he needed was a powerful sorcerer to cure him of his poisoned heart, and no better way than the blood of his doppelgänger. Or… if not, some other suggestions or useful tidbit may pop up if he continued listening.

And while he was listening, he learned of a realm jumper who lived nearby. One that had once used a tophat as his mode of transport. Fingers drummed faster on the surface as he pondered. Alice had an old tophat which one of her tea party mates wore. She called the old bear “Mister Hatter.” When Killian connected the hat to the realm jumper, he had a good feeling that the hat he’d bought in a trunkful of dress up clothes for Alice might have been more than what it appeared to be. The Hatter was rumored to be completely bonkers, mad as a hatter. A portal jumper missing more than his mind but also the tool of the trade. He’d become a fungus seller and not a very good one, but could be found at market at midday.

A portal jumper could help him two-fold! First, a sorcerer who would most assuredly cure him, and afterwards, locate Alice as well! She had to be in another realm. He’d searched the entirety of the Enchanted Forest. He simply knew she was… elsewhere.  
With this exciting news, he had almost everything he needed. Taking a final swig of his drink, he slammed the mug down on the bar, dropped a doubloon as payment, and left in a hurry.

After shifting through the rubble of the destroyed tower in which he had raised Alice, he found the tophat and blew a cloud of dust from it. It had once been a fine piece of work, intricately made by a master craftsman; but now, the fabric was worn thin with age. No holes though. Loathe to ponder what sort of portal a holey hat would have made, he hurried along after tucking it under his cloak between his left elbow and the girth of his midsection.

Just as the townspeople indicated, the disheveled mushroom seller was at market attempting to hawk a variety of what was questionable fungus at best. The hooded pirate inclined his chin to peer over the shoulder of a crone who was taking her sweet time in rifling through the ex-hatter’s shrooms as she made rude comments about how she could have picked better and that he should be happy to take a minimal number of coppers as payment. Killian’s jaw worked as he made a show of being interested in the basket’s contents, then raised an eyebrow as he side-eyed the crone. “Piss or get off the pot, woman. Others await,” he said loudly.

The crone sputtered and blinked rapidly, not seeming to follow and not getting the hell out of the way. So, he cleared his throat and helped her out of the way with a sidestep that sent the crone somersaulting into the crowd passing by the stall.

“Ah, it appears I’m next.” He smiled brightly at the man before him. Being that he was in quite a hurry, he didn’t bother with pleasantries or introductions. With a dramatic show of revealing exactly what he held under his elbow by hurling his cloak off of his left side, he said, “It appears that you’re sold out for the day! I’ll take the whole basket!” While the man is distracted, Killian would snatch the basket from the man’s hands and toss it behind himself. “Now, may we have a word in private? I need a travel agent and you’re going to assist me, Hatter.” His hand rested on the hilt of the sword sheathed in his belt.

Jefferson

It is a perfectly average day for a perfectly below-average man as Jefferson stands behind a stall, barely scraping copper as the hours pass by. The man stares off into the distance, wavering lightly from side to side, mumbling a chant about having the finest mushrooms in all the lands, or some similar salesman nonsense. His eyes are dark with subtle baggage beneath them, skin pale and clammy from the heat and… extracurricular activities. In the Wish Realm, Jefferson was perhaps even more strange than the original, with much poorer life choices having formed the man he is now. Was that bird squealing like a pig, or was it that hinge again? No, it was definitely the bird.

As a bright, lovely young man approaches the stall to offer a purchase that would cover his entire week's hard work, Jefferson's face lights up with a smile. A customer willing to overpay! He needs the funding for previously mentioned extracurricular activities. Fantastic! That is, until the man flings a basket over his shoulder and mentions the need for an agent. He does not notice that the man already has the hat in his possession, as his skills of observation are pitifully impoverished.

Jeffersons face sparks with panic. "I'VE STOLEN NO SHROOMS THIS WEEK, STENCH OF HELGA!" He howls, spinning on heel to run, only to smack his face into the supporting pole of a sales stand behind him, the beam giving way as he stumbles back mid-fall to be smacked in the head again by the same pole. Now the mentally disturbed man lays next to an inanimate pole that meant no harm.

The ex-Hatter groans and pulls a hand up to drag down his face. It takes him several moments to roll over and scrunch his brow at the not-so-young and lovely man. It takes several more moments of head-bobbing and finger-waving before he begins to clear the communication. "Hang on, travel agent? Hatter… oooh. THAT kind. Oh…" Jefferson squeezes his eyes shut with a groan. He climbs to his feet weakly and dusts off, hands flinging about. "Yeah… yeah, yeah. Yeah! Yeah, I do that. I do that kind of thing. Sometimes. I can't really. Ya'know. Do it, though. I don’t have the uh, the thing." After a moment he flings up a finger. "OH! I almost forgot there. Privacy, right. Cant have everybody knowing," Jefferson hiss-whispers and gives an obnoxious wink and smile before hustling off to a pathway between stalls and into the entrance of the nearest alleyway.

Killian

Killian gripped the sword harder in surprise as the Hatter turned out to be a blithering mad man! Helga?! It seemed a ruse as the man intended to flee but was stopped prematurely by his inability to notice the structure he had been standing under. Fortunately, the ex-pirate hadn’t lost his nimbleness in his idle years and jumped back just as the pole fell upon the man’s face.

Kneeling, Killian narrowed his eyes as he leaned forward enough to sniff the air. Not drunk but certainly inebriated.

The man goes on to chatter and gesticulate with more dramatic flair than Killian had even on his best days of subterfuge. An eyebrow drew upward in observance. “Aye, that kind. The kind that gets paid for keeping his yap shut,” Killian said, patience fast evaporating as he glanced hastily about for any eavesdroppers. He stood as well and gripped the hat from under his arm, waving it about in obvious irritation. But the Hatter stumbled off into the alley. At least he had enough wit to not draw more of a scene.

“Bloody hell,” he groaned as he followed behind and into the alley. “I’ve found a half-wit, drug-inebriated imbecile as my last hope.”

Jefferson

As Jeffersom skimpers off to the alleyway nearby, or what resembled one, he spins around abruptly to hold up his hands.  
"Okay. Okay, okay. So heres the thing. I want your money, but I have no services."  
The Hatter displays a wide grin with his hands palm up in a shrugging motion.  
"Now if you had my special item, we could help each other out." His tone is slippery as he pulls his hands in to rub them together with a smile. The poor man doesnt even see that the pirate HAS his hat. His intelligence has whittled deeply through the years…

Killian  
Killian's eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline as he stared at the Hatter. There was a special kind of sick going on with the fellow’s mind, but nevertheless, the pirate had little choice if he was to ever find the help he needed. He also recalled no such mention of monetary payment for this service, but he wasn't going to correct the Hatter over the discrepancy.  
The hat was still clutched in his fist by the brim and he lifted it slowly lest the man lose track of it. "Special item? Such as an old, satin, child's toy's top hat?" And then, because he was quite desperate, he waved it about in the space between them just to be absolutely certain the hat was noticed.  
He’s my only chance. Easy... he told himself in order to be as smooth as possible and appeal to the Hatter, so he plastered the broadest smile he could muster upon his face. "Why, you’re in luck, mate, because I’ve got one. Surely, you are by far the greatest portal jumper in the land now that you have the proper tool at your disposal...?"

Jefferson  
The Hatter's eyes widen at the sight of his old, inanimate friend. Jefferson lifts a finger to brush the hat before dropped it to focus on the pirate. "Yes... yes I am." Hungry eyes pulled a stare back to the hat, Jefferson's hand jolting out to snatch it. "I hope you don't mind," he says with a snail of a smile. "Payment. Then we make the jump."  
Without warning, Jefferson spins on his heel to hunch over and execute an awkward jog through the alleyway to the other side. He makes his way to the nearest tree line within near eyesight, stumbling clumsily over logs and fallen debris. He'd glance behind him to check and see if his source of goods would be close behind.  
"This is it. A clear enough space for you to make the journey you desire..." He wiggles his fingers, drawing his hands out in a circle in front of him, "...and return with the same number of departure. Safely, of course. All safe."  
Jefferson gives a sudden, harsh expression of panic and desperation. "PAYMENT! Then you go." He waves his hands frantically between himself and the pirate (the hat flopping about), blinking rapidly, waiting to be handed a form of compensation before his newly found business partner's departure.

Killian  
Killian had only a moment's panic as his bargaining chip was swiped out of his hand, but the hatter was going on about payment again. He hadn't lost the upper hand yet. Now if he could only figure something out to keep the man interested in helping him.

Without warning, the man was fleeing and Killian started in shock again. "Bloody hell!" he groaned as he had no choice but to give chase. Despite his girth, he was still a nimble swordfighter and was able to keep up, but he was breathing heavily by the time he stopped--again abruptly--in the treeline. Well, at least he hadn't been tripping over his own feet as the hatter had been. "Might I suggest, ah, not dipping into one's own stash in the future, mate? It addles the mind and lightens the pockets." He raised an eyebrow, doubting the message would even be received. A sad sight, truly, but really, what did he care? He just needed the damn portal opened and to be guided to help.

Nodding over the conversation taking the direction he needed, he cleared his throat. "Brilliant! Safety should always be the priority from a skilled expert such as yourself, aye. But what I need is transport to a land with--" And he jerked his head back suddenly, eyes widening at the bark of a demand again for payment. The man was mad as a hatter, certainly, but this... this was bordering deranged. "Er, yes. Payment, of course. As I was saying, I need a land with a powerful sorcerer. A willing sorcerer." And because he was certain he could likely waggle the temptation before the greedy, he added. "One that might also be.... rich in gold, jewels, rubies, emeralds... A little added bonus for your generous assistance? Why, you wouldn't need to hawk your shrooms any longer, mate. You could move up to..." With a gesture toward the hatter, he, wondered what he could possibly want more than inebriation. In Killian's day, he'd wanted his revenge more than blissful intoxication, treasure, and women, but he didn't know the hatter or what could drive him. So, he left the sentence open-ended waiting for the man to speak his own desire.

Jefferson  
As predicted, the message flew right over his head. The Hatter would not acknowledge the pirate's words, his mind focused on receiving materialistic matter rather than proverbial advice.

Sorcerer... the Hatter nods with wide eyes in understanding. "I know just where to send you." He cracks a laugh, then quiets to a chuckle. "Perfect. I am still the Hatter. I am still the one, the only, the Hatter!" He claps to himself before spinning around to slowly place the hat among the leaves, drawing his hands away slowly as if it might fly away while he's not looking. Upon the Hatter's thoughts of destination, it begins to spin. The spin is very unstable looking... just as erratic as Jefferson's mind, the purple cloud of smoke patchy and grey-ish, as if there are pieces of needed thought missing for the journey across realms.  
He looks to the young, devilish traveler, speaking faster than his mind can place together his thoughts - the image of his payment restored excites his need to quicken the pace of their transaction.  
"Emeralds, especially. You'll love him. Great guy. He'll get you what you need. Anything you need. Hop in and be on your way. Some silver will be needed as a downpayment, of course. Until I can return you from your.. uh... your... ya'know, spot. Place of going. Destination. Anywho." He waggles his hand, waiting to be given something before the man disappears into the portal.

Killian  
"Emeralds!" Killian proclaimed with a broad grin of successfully extracting what the Hatter might like, even if the idea had been supplied to him. Whatever. Feeling quite accomplished in knowing that the promise of emeralds would suffice as future payment, Killian adjusted his belt for traveling with greedy eyes as the portal began to smoke. He noticed the way the hatter was backing away carefully, slowly, with hands out as if the thing might--what?--explode? It certainly didn't look stable. "Er... is it meant to do that?" he inquired. But on and on the madman rambled about someone he didn't bother to name. Shaking his head as he tried to follow the Hatter's gesticulations and nonsensical speech, Killian felt positively boggled. "Right!" he agreed. To what? He didn't know, but the portal seemed to be functioning, or at least he hoped so, and the hatter was directing him toward his mode of transport. What other option did the desperate pirate have? "Emeralds and silver, indeed." Aye, he recognized the hand-out for payment, but if one could play dumb, so could the other. "Off we go then!" As he approached the topsy-turvy, smoking hat, Killian shot his elbow out directly into the man's face before holding his breath as if he were diving into a turbulent whirlpool in the sea.

Jefferson  
"AAAGGAAGH!" A groan-scream escapes Jefferson as his head flings backward from the appendage meeting his facial features with force, more specifically, his nose. He howls in a dramatized, pained manner. "AAUUUH! My nose! I hope you BUUURN IN OOOOZ!" Most of his pain comes from the betrayal of no payment, but he howls nonetheless.

While the Hatter is downed, the hat sucks in the purple vortex of smoke and closes the portal. Killian would be present in the portal of doors. Straight ahead of him, he would see a curtain with green drapes, pulled to the side, with opaque goo, swirling goo hiding the world on the other side. All other doors and pathways will be locked. Upon exit, he would see a yellow brick road...


	2. Chapter 2

Killian  
As Killian felt the pull of gravitational force drawing him somewhere, he stopped hollering when his feet jogged to a halt in a hallway. He wasn’t afraid, merely fascinated. Was this the interior of the hat, perhaps? It was elaborate and elegant, completely at odds with its owner. 

He wondered if Alice had truly held this magical object all those years with her dolls and stuffed playmates, or perhaps the deficient Hatter held the magical key to make a previously dormant hat more than just a hat. Regardless, his ploy had worked and he’d gotten a free ride to a magical land.   
Grinning at his cleverness, the pirate strutted down the center of the hallway, black marble flooring glistening with the utmost cleanliness. If the Hatter had more of his wits about him, he could do great things with such a precious device at hand, but alas, that may not be possible. What a waste, he sighed, shaking his head. The cursed pirate didn’t recognize his own lost potential in kind.  
All the doors he passed appeared to be locked, but he did try a doorknob or two just to be certain of his supposition. One door was very alluring to the pirate. It appeared to look like the bow of a ship protruding from the wall. Mist rolled out from the bottom of the door and across the floor to swirl around his boots. Barnacles and starfish stuck to the bottom of the door and suckled and moved in the exposed air. “Starfish,” he mumbled in awe, reaching a bejeweled finger out to touch one. It reminded him of Alice and his moniker for her. The creature within the Gastropoda sucked itself back within the safety of its shells at his nearness. Killian yanked his hand back. It was all a reminder that he was doing this for Alice.   
“Don’t get distracted,” he said to himself, turning away from the door. 

He walked past more closed doors, until he saw one ahead that reminded him of the Hatter’s last words which had echoed through the portal in a horrible howl. “Burn in Oz,” the man had said. He chuckled in memory as if Oz was akin to Hell. Does one curse another to Oz? Or had that just been the deranged inner workings of the Hatter again?

This doorway was emerald green, glittering and lavish looking. In intricate decor, the two letters OZ where inlaid in gold. A shimmering, watery soap bubble concealed what might lay beyond. It was different enough from the other doors that he was certain this was it. Holding his breath again, Killian reached out and touched the wet surface. The slimy texture stuck to his fingers, drawing outwards toward him. It was fascinating and disturbing all at once, but he was determined to find this emerald-rich sorcerer the Hatter had eagerly said would help him. He stepped forward and exited the hat.   
-  
The fumbling madman had dropped him in a land with the most brilliant forest he’d seen since his days in Neverland. The sky was a different shade of black this evening. It was as if there were an infinite quantity of stars more visible than the Enchanted Forest ever had.   
The pirate wandered along the path which was bricked in golden yellow. After some time in wandering, Killian realized he’d never gotten the whereabouts of the sorcerer he intended to find. No matter. He’d always been resourceful.  
He was growing tired and decided to stay in an inn. After he’d woken up and inquired about where the no doubt illustrious sorcerer might be found, he was laughed at and told he was too drunk to be standing if he didn’t know there was no bloody sorcerer at all. Damn Hatter! 

“Where the devil am I?” Killian demanded of the barkeep, trying his best to hold down his temper to keep from throttling the man who was laughing at him. He certainly wasn’t drunk. “I was told this is Oz, home of a powerful sorcerer!”  
“Why, of course this is Oz, of course, of course!” The man did have quite a rosy complexion and smiled brightly despite the anger Killian was exuding. The little man did seem vertically challenged, Killian realized. A little person… or, he wracked his brain trying to recall the term he’d heard while sailing about. A bloody munchkin! Too jolly for his current mood. The munchkin barkeep continued: “But the only sorcerer you’ll find is the wizard!” Another piped in as if on cue. “The wizard?” “The wizard!” the barkeep agreed. Killian’s eyes shot wide in alarm when he realized they were preparing to burst into song. 

And so there Killian found himself wandering down the colorful brick pathway again but now through a particularly dead-looking part of the forest which gave a stunning view of the stars overhead through the leafless branches. He wondered if the damned Hatter had even brought him to a realm with a sorcerer at all. A wizard whose audience sang childish songs may not be what he was seeking at all. He needed someone powerful and skilled to beat this curse. How was he going to be cured so he could find his Alice now?  
After some time, Killian grew bored. There seemed to be no one out, no munchkins, no wildlife. Despite the beauty of the land, it was too quiet. So, he began to sing a song for men, not children—no childish joviality. A sea shanty and a good one, if he asked himself. He’d never get bored with himself for company.

_“O’er the sea and upon the green lands_   
_The lads take their wages and flee from the hands._   
_The lassies raise their glasses and cheer_   
_Come along boys and lend us your ears.’_   
_They sing and they call,_   
_What a glorious sound._   
_And the poor young sods gave it their all._   
_‘Aye lassies,’ they jeered and sidled right near_   
_And emptied their pockets for a taste of sweet beer._   
_The buxom gals groped and smelled of the mint,_   
_And they left the poor suckers with nary a cent._   
_‘Yo ho! ye daft fools, go back to your ships._   
_Never can ye trust the shake of those hips.’_   
_But the lads, ‘Yo ho, poor we may be,_   
_Another chance of a taste, and to they we will flee!’”_

Zelena  
Walsh, Zelena’s favourite flying monkey, was on its way back to the Castle when it heard someone bawling a song.   
It was approaching from behind, and made sure it wasn’t seen.   
Hiding in a tree, it watched the man strolling down the golden road for a while before it continued its way back to its mistress.

“Krrrrrrrrkkchhhhhhhh!” Walsh couldn’t speak, but make those screeching noise when he got back to the castle.  
“What is it, beautiful one,” Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West sat on her throne, impatiently waiting about news of Dorothy, and allowed Walsh to land on the armrest.  
“Krrrrrrrrkkchhhhhhhh!” It repeated, and stared deeply into Zelena’s eyes.   
The witch saw the pictures in her head, the ones her monkey had seen, and jumped to her feet when she *saw* and *heard* the newcomer.   
“Where did he come from,” she ranted, and began to pace around.  
“Must belong to Dorothy, the announced *help*.” Zelena was getting even more angry. 

She activated the magical mirror in the center of the floor, and directed it onto the newcomer.  
“A dirty pirate as it seems,” she commented after she watched him for a while. Bawling this dirty song, and the sword on his hip gave him away. Not to mention the hook that replaced his left hand.  
“I want you to bring him to me, scratch him, hurt him if necessary, but let him alive. If he is here to help Dorothy, I’ll make him pay.”   
She looked at her monkey, and yelled at it, when it didn’t take off immediately, “Now!”  
Walsh screeched again, and flew off.

It didn’t take long to find the pirate, and Walsh stooped down on him, ready to attack, intending to lift the pirate off his feet to carry him to Zelena.

Killian  
Just as he finished his sea shanty, a rustling in the leaves caught Killian’s attention. He whirled, jacket tails spinning around him in the process, to find a winged beast approaching. “Get back, demon!” he ordered, hook out and ready. The Hatter’s last wishes may have been serious. This...thing... looked like a figment of hell indeed. He drew his sword and waggled it at the thing as it began to circle, bearing its fangs and making the most ridiculous screeching noise. Maybe not a hell beast, but a primate, he realized. With wings? “What the devil are you?” he asked the thing as it raked its claws in the air between them. Killian swiped the blade as a warning.

It must have been a very dim-witted primate as it lunged at him. Killian stumbled back at the sudden movement but swung his hook out, better for close range combat. He turned with the movement and threw the thing before it could claw at his shoulders. It landed in the bushes just as he heard the sound of something else approaching.

Wiping the sleeve of his jacket across his brow, he drew up his sword, waiting. There was a low mumble of approach—was that singing again? He wondered with incredulity. “Oh, not the bloody munchkins again,” he moaned. He’d rather take on the gnashing teeth of the flea-ridden monstrosity in the bushes again.

Sure enough, a small hoard of munchkins began to appear with flaming sticks in hand. Some carried pitchforks. “Evening,” Killian greeted. When the munchkins saw the sword at the ready, they paused in their approach.

“There’s word that the Wicked Witch’s pet monkey has been lurking! We came to scare it off!”

Oh, the brave little dolts, Killian thought, shaking his head. “Have you?” He asked, doubting it very much. “Aye, well, I’ve already dispatched the beast. You’re too late.” He pointed the sword at the bushes. “The Wicked Witch, you say?” He was intrigued, but not for long. The monkey screeched again and lifted its wings to fly at Killian again. It’s claws raked at his shoulders.

“It means to take you to her!” One of the munchkins yelled. “The wicked witch! The wicked witch!” The chorus of munchkins yelled in terror. They didn’t bother attacking the monkey, but ran screaming and bumping into one another, pitchforks and torches dropping to the ground as they scurried away.

“Bloody... useless...” He swiped his sword through the air overhead at the beast. “Send your mistress to me if she demands audience!” he yelled up at the creature.

Zelena  
The witch watched the _attempts_ of Walsh bringing the pirate to her castle. She had to admit, for someone who looked like a ragbag, she was by now even impressed that he fought her creature off; with quite interesting narrating monologue that hinted out he had indeed fighting spirit.  
Zelena curled her lips. This pirate might be worth more investigation. Pirates worked for the one who paid them better, it was possible his life would be more precious to him than whatever Dorothy had promised him.  
Even better, Dorothy awaited him. So, if he was working for Zelena he could kill that brat once and for all.   
Wicked. The witch grinned.

In the meantime, she could see a bunch of munchkins stepping into the scene, and rolled her eyes.  
To her amusement, she noticed that the pirate seemed to be annoyed as well, and his sword and the monkey were helpful in scaring those useless gnomes away. However, they had given away that Zelena was behind this.   
“If you want something done right, do it yourself,” Zelena grumbled angrily, and decided to fulfill the demand of the pirate, and appear herself.  
One flick of her wrist and her hat and cloak were in place, another, and her broom flew into her hand, the third was for opening the window.  
Zelena climbed onto the broom and headed off. 

It only took her a few minutes to get to the place where Walsh was now circling the pirate, angry that he was fighting back. Once he saw his mistress, he screeched loudly, and sputtered with rage at the pirate.  
Zelena landed a few meters in front of the pirate, right on the golden brick road, and she thought she had made a perfect entrance. 

With a nod she allowed Walsh to land beside her, and glared at the pirate.  
“And what do we have here…” she said slowly, and stepped closer. Without a warning her hand came up, and Killian was dangling in a force grip.  
“You were looking for the Wicked Witch,” she asked in a threatening tone, “seems you just found her. And to make that clear,” she paused a moment, and gave a little more pressure into her magical grip around his throat, “**I** never demand an audience. I _grant_ them.”

She withdrew her hand, and Killian dropped to the ground.   
“I know you’re here to help Dorothy, but you stand no chance against me! However, if you work for me, maybe I’ll spare your life.”  
Zelena smiled wickedly, and Walsh let out a screech to confirm his mistress’ words.

Killian  
The monkey screeched and Killian looked up in time to notice someone approaching rather quickly via a household cleaning device. He might have been surprised by this had he not already become numb to the oddities of this land by the copious broods of munchkins and the winged primate. As he was on this voyage in search of someone powerful, he certainly wouldn’t discount anyone who had magic at their disposal.

The most vibrant green material came into sight as the broomed individual stepped onto the ground. The dress sparkled and he realized it had the same shimmer as the stars overhead. His eyes continued to roam up, noticing an abundant cleavage and flesh a startling shade of green. A bright green amulet rested above her cleavage in a mesmerizing manner. Though he didn’t want to seem the lecherous sort, so he raised his eyes. The woman’s lips were bright pink but that was no match for the pale, ice blue of her eyes. His own bushy eyebrows rose as he straightened his spine and tilted his head as he finished his visual assessment of the woman. A green woman. Her hair was well kept and her style rakish. She was someone of importance and of a height. A smirk formed on his lips as he was about to address her as she approached, but he felt a sudden pressure against his throat. Magic, he realized disjointedly as the invisible force raised him up from the ground. Oh, yes. Very powerful indeed! He couldn’t breathe. His eyes remained on the woman as she spoke to him, rather angrily, he noted. What had he done to her but defend himself against her beast?

A moment later, his boots touched ground again and he took a deep breath of refreshing air again. His sword was clearly going to be of no use, nor did he intend to use it on someone with that sort of magic. She was perfect. Everything he was searching for had come straight to him. Brilliant, he thought, barely concealing a grin. He sheathed his sword and dipped his head in a nod of reverence to the Wicked Witch.

She went on to proclaim she seemed to know him and who he was employed by, nevermind the fact that he’d never heard the name Dorothy before. He wasn’t going to correct her supposition if it meant his life would be spared. She could believe he worked for the bloody munchkins for all he cared. Yet, she was offering him a job! He hadn’t said a word to her. She must have been spying on him while he fought off her pet. Powerful indeed, for he hadn’t seen her in the trees. He had been looking up at the stars after all.

“It seems you have me figured out, your majesty. You are the queen of the munchkins, I presume? I do apologize, love, but I find your citizenry here quite disagreeable, excluding your exquisite visage, of course.” He gestured a hand at her person in appreciation. “How do you tolerate it? Shows of force?” His hand moved up to motion at his own throat with a flourish of a gesture and a raised eyebrow. He wasn’t afraid of her, though he was quite admirable of her approach to visitors. Strike first, then question them later. Or in his case, offer a job.   
“Surely, no one would attempt to double-cross a powerful sorceress such as yourself. That is, unless they were quite desperate. Erm, what is it you’d like me to do for you?” His eyes trailed down her form again before meeting her eyes again. “Bodyguard against the munchkins? Do they harass you at home?" He sneered at her pet at her side. “You’d have to get rid of that… thing… first. I don’t work with mange-infected vermin.”

Zelena  
He was indeed a pirate. Not scared as it seemed, although she had demonstrated her powers, and sassy, also charming, flattering, and entertaining. Although he began to talk himself into trouble.   
Zelena felt anger rising when he thought of her as _queen of the munchkins_, and yet it was particularly ironic.   
She let him talk, and realized that he couldn’t be someone Dorothy had paid for his services.   
Actually it seemed he had never heard about OZ at all or any creatures that lived here; something Dorothy had surely told him. 

However, he seemed to be interested in this job Zelena had mentioned, and why not!  
But first she had to set some things right.  
“First of all, I’m the Wicked Witch of the West, not any queen to munchkins. Munchkins are afraid of me. After all **I** rule OZ. Sometimes I kill one or two,” she added, shrugging her shoulders, and watched him, curious about his reaction to that. Of course she didn’t kill any munchkin as they were quite useful sometimes.  
“Second, are you desperate? Because for a simple pirate whom I could turn into a monkey at any time, you seem to think you can hold back something from me. Do you intend to double-cross me?”  
She began to circle him now. “I don’t think you have ever heard of Dorothy. Speak up! What are you doing in OZ, pirate?”

She looked at Walsh when the pirate demanded to get rid of it, and said “the monkey stays. It’s my favourite toy.”   
She screwed up her nose and added “I wonder if he really is the one with mange. Maybe you like to… polish up your appearance before I consider giving you a job.”

Killian  
Upon mentioning her tendency to kill off a munchkin or two at a time, he nodded, lips slightly pursed in appraisal. “A wise decision, I’m certain. They’re bloody aggravating.” As she continued to ask him questions and inform him of who she is, he strolled a few steps closer and placed his hand over his heart, feigning transparency. “Alas, I must have my desperation written clearly across my face. However, I am no fool. I wouldn’t dare double cross someone with such power as you exhibit, your… Wickedness. I apologize. Allow me to introduce myself. Killian Jones. Or as I’m often called by a clever moniker, Hook.” Introducing himself, he hoped for a name to call her besides Wicked Witch. He made a leg as he dipped his head again, never letting his eyes off of her to see how she would react to him.

He recognized the clear threats she was aiming at him and feared she would follow through if he didn’t get to the point quickly. Clearing his throat, he sneered at the monkey again before looking back to the Wicked Witch.

“And since you’re so very clever yourself in bringing up a change of appearances, let me explain my arrival into this land. Your land,” he corrected. “Nay, I haven’t the foggiest idea who Dorothy is or what his vendetta must be against you. I assure you, I’m here on my own errand.” He strolled another step closer as he continued to speak, his thumb hooking into his belt. “You see, I have a theory that I’m certain must work. Only the most powerful sorcerer,” he tilted his head to the side with a slight smile, “or sorceress could possibly help me overcome the curse that plagues my heart.” He shoved his hand into the pocket of his cloak and withdrew the red vial containing his doppelganger’s blood. With a flourish of his hand, he held the vial up so that it would be visible. “The curse of the poisoned heart. I was once a very dashing man, but…” His eyes fell, disheartened at his fate. “I came upon a woman who was trapped in a tower. I tried to save her, but she couldn’t leave. She was in such despair, I stayed to comfort her, to keep her company. She drew me into her bed. The next morning, I woke to find that I had lain with an evil witch who wanted nothing more than an escape from the tower and could only do that with my youth gone with her.” Okay, so it was somewhat of a stretch of the truth. He omitted the part about Alice’s conception and overnight gestation, but he didn’t know the woman before him and she likely wouldn’t care about his sad story.

“This vial contains my youth. I simply need someone very powerful to help me. Do you know of someone so powerful who could do this, love? Who could transform me back to my true self in order to serve you properly?” he asked, looking up at the woman through his eyelashes.

Zelena  
So he was used to killing people, and not only “talk someone to death.” Another reason he was useful for her.  
She couldn’t help it, but the pirate pleased her. He had manners after all, and was still charming.   
“Hook, you say? I wonder where you got that name from,” she teased a bit, as she was looking at his hook.  
“You may call me Zelena,” she eventually said, and while listening to his story, she became more and more intrigued.

She noticed that he had never heard of Dorothy, otherwise he would have at least known that Dorothy was a woman. He also was a good storyteller, and Zelena had to be extremely cautious not to fall for all his flatteries, and the careful set up manipulation he was availing himself of. Nevertheless her ego was big enough so she felt challenged by his words (of course she _was_ a most powerful sorceress), and it was too tempting not to prove her abilities to him.

However, she wasn’t stupid either. She would surely not tap into his trap so obviously, and she was also trying to decide if his story was true of if he dared and lie to her.   
She had not even heard of the curse of the poisoned heart, and frowned when he held up a vial. Zelena knew immediately that the red liquid in it was blood. Interesting.   
Blood magic was always tempting, but since he already had raw material, it might just require her wand this time.  
A cheap spell, but she wanted him to believe it was a major effort. 

She waited until he had finished his story, snatched the vial out of his hand, and held it up against the light to examine it more closely. While doing so, she said, “You should know by know that I _am_ such a powerful sorceress.” She narrowed one eye and shook the vial slightly before handing it back to him.  
“You’re lucky, storyteller. Not everyone can perform such difficult magic. Provided your story is the truth, I am willing to give you back your… _youth_, as you called it, when you agree to work for me now. And only me. If I find out you tried to betray me, I’ll take away your other hand, and rip out your heart.”  
Having a pirate at hand was not that bad, Zelena had just to make sure he would only serve her. Since she had no idea if his story was true, it wouldn’t be bad to threaten him a bit.   
Curiously she waited for his answer.

Killian  
So the Wicked Witch had a sense of humor. He smiled as she remarked on his hook, glad he wouldn't get bored yet in her company. He was a bit surprised that she introduced herself as well. Tilting his head, his smile broadened. "A pleasure, Zelena." A moment later and the vial was snatched from his hand, but he tried to remain calm, that his bargaining chip hadn't just been snatched out of his hand again, just as the hatter had snatched the hat from him. He waited as she agreed to his terms so long as he worked only for her. He placed his hand over his heart (in part to protect it from being ripped out as she suggested, but also to show sincerity). "I swear to it. No betrayals. I accept your terms. I'll only work for you." Meanwhile, his eyes went back to the vial, hoping like hell that she would follow through. Her terms hadn't sunk in yet as he hadn't really thought of a timeframe. She hadn't really said. "What are we talking? A few weeks? A month? Need me to kill this Dorothy fellow for you? Whatever you need, I'm your man."

No sooner had he said that, a cacophony of noise approached from behind followed by sudden shrieks of terror. “The wicked witch of the west!” The little ones were clasping their faces in horror and bumping into one another in their attempts to flee while some of the bigger munchkins carried the blasted pitchforks again. “We’ve come to save you, Outsider!”

“Meddlesome munchkins!” Killian groaned under his breath at being interrupted yet again. Would he ever get to finish a blasted sentence in this land?

Killian turned his back to Zelena to observe what appeared to be a pitchfork being leveled at them both by one particularly brave individual. “What the devil is going on here?” Killian demanded. He was not about to have his redemption squandered by said meddlesome munchkins. “Scurry off now!” He demanded, waving his hook at them with some menace.

“But, but, Outsider, you’re defending the Wicked Witch!”

He had a thought that perhaps the citizenry of Oz was to attribute to giving her such a moniker. Life could be so unfair in self-fulfilling prophesies. “Wicked? You don’t say?” He said with some level of dry sarcasm recalling how she had choked him and threatened to turn him into a monkey and just now threatened to take his heart if he betrayed her.

Of course, the little buggers took his question literally as if he was the one to misunderstand. “Well…” the lead munchkin stammered, gesturing with the pointy end of the pitchfork. “She’s green! Only ugly, mean beings are green…”

Killian’s face contorted into a sneer after hearing the hypocrisy from the vertically challenged little beings. What did they think of him, at that? He knew he was no spring chicken. “I don’t give a damn if her skin was purple! She’s a woman and deserves to be treated as such. Now, go away. You’ve interrupted our pleasant conversation.” He ended up having to chase them away, stomping his boots as he went.

When he returned back to Zelena a few moments later, he shook his head. “As I said, how do you tolerate it?" With killing a few she had said, and he could envision her doing just that or he himself would do it if they were interrupted again. He just needed to get his youth back. It was within his grasp.

Zelena  
She smiled in satisfaction when he accepted. Zelena was just about to answer his question about the “when”, when the chant of munchkin parade was to be heard.   
Zelena curled her lips in anger, and she got in position to scare them off again. Her teeth clenched, hands bent to claws, her eyes sparkling she hissed at the munchkins.   
“Yes, you better fear me, because I’m going to cook you all and have munchkin pulp today!” Zelena made another hissing noise and pretended to strike at them, scaring them off, when she suddenly heard and saw the pirate jump into action.

Dumbfounded about him taking action *against* the munchkins, Zelena watched him.  
Her eyebrows came up, and she stared at him. He had turned, so his back was turned to her, and he really began to defend her! Zelena didn’t know what to think about that. 

However, she didn’t stay thunderstruck for long, as the bloody low-growing veggies (Zelena had to think of veggies every time she saw them in their impossible colorful clothes) might think the wicked witch would have lost her wickedness if she just stood there.   
Since she didn’t want to miss any of the pirate’s words, she limited her actions to glare at them, and make threatening gestures.   
Her flying monkey lifted off, and began to circle, and also attack some from above.

Hearing them describe her as ugly, and mean made her furious, but before she could really kill one of them this time, the pirate surprised her again.   
For a tiny moment Zelena felt truly flattered, but she immediately anticipated that he was _trying_ to flatter her so she would… maybe be thankful and rewarded him with his youth.   
Zelena narrowed her eyes. She wouldn’t fall for that. 

Hook was just scaring the munchkins off, by - Zelena couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore by now - chasing after them. It was a quite funny scene, seeing the old, fat pirate with matted, straggly hair swinging his hook, and stomped right at them.  
Well, for this she might give him a little reward, maybe a haircut, or allow him to use her bathroom. In any case, it lightened her mood.

However, when he returned Zelena gave him a smooth look, and answered his question, about how she would tolerate it, “They amuse me from time to time, and they are still useful to threaten Dorothy. Anyway, I think we leave this place and do something about your appearance.

Zelena waved her hand, and a moment later green smoke engulfed them, and they appeared in the castle.  
She walked down the aisle toward her throne, and said “I have to admit, seeing you dealing with those annoying munchkins was something I… approve of. As a little reward I left my monkey to find its way back to me on its own. No need to thank me for that.”  
She went past her throne to the chamber where Walsh had installed his little devices to trick people. Zelena rummaged around, and then found her wand.

“Now, it’s time for some magic. The vial,” she demanded, and took it when Hook offered it to her.  
“Hold still, and be amazed.”  
Zelena opened the vial, and tipped her wand into the blood. It was absorbed by the wand, and once the vial was empty she aimed the wand at the pirate.  
She wouldn’t admit it, but she was quite curious how he would look like after the transformation.  
The blood and some magic shot right at him, and circled him until he was almost completely covered by it.   
It took only a few seconds, and the magic was done.   
Zelena stared at the man now standing in her throne room. He looked younger and so much… better!   
Dressed in black leather, broad back and small hips, short, neat, dark hair and was that eyeliner around his blue eyes?   
“Nice touch,” she couldn’t prevent to say, and quickly added, “so you were telling the truth.”

Killian  
Hearing her assent to aid him--finally!--Killian clenched his fist in excitement at his side, his hand and hook hidden by his cloak. The green fog surrounded him and for a moment, it was so similar to the purple smoke of the portal hat, he thought he was going to fall again, but he didn't. A moment later, he was in a castle. "Brilliant," he said as he observed their surroundings. Richly appointed green... emerald decor, he decided. Perhaps she was the one the hatter had been raving about. His excitement was building. This was going to work and he would get back to Alice very soon. He followed the Wicked Witch towards a particular room that held many treasures he couldn't explain, but he bent at the waist to observe in a particular drawer she was rummaging about in. He popped back up again when she produced a wand. All sorcerers had wands, didn't they? Surely. No trickery afoot here. So, when she asked for the vial, he produced it eagerly.

When dark red shot towards him, he barely flinched, it happened so quickly. His eardrums were pounding in his head. The ground suddenly felt like it was sucking him to it. His guts were twisting, his heart was hammering. There was no air to shout out in the shock of his bodily transformation as he dropped to his knees. The hood of the cloak fell over his head. Hot and cold, he felt the prickle of sweat cover his skin. His heart rate was so fast, but he felt he could stand and so he did. The movement was so smooth and easy. There was no arthritic pain in his joints as he did so.

His hand raised to lift the hood off of his head and he breathed deeply, his eyes closing briefly. Then he noticed his hair wasn’t hanging in his face. In fact, he couldn’t even see it. Touching his hair, it felt short. He looked at his hand, the skin tight with no age spots. Looking down, he noticed his gut was gone. Touching his chest, he felt the trim muscle there. It had been years since he’d felt thus rejuvenated!

The cloak had been meant to hide himself and he had no need for that now. He ripped it off and dropped it to the polished floor with exaggerated delight. His clothing had changed as well. Surprisingly, he was wearing the clothing his doppelganger had been wearing when Killian had struck him down and took his blood. A black, short, leather jacket, black button up shirt left open at the neck, black pants, and boots. How very interesting.

Glancing up again, he looked at the woman in awe, almost disbelieving what he had just experienced. “Aye, the truth, of course," he said softly, still in disbelief. "You’re… bloody remarkable! You did it!”

He stepped forward and took her hand again and knelt on one knee. “I'm indebted to you and am grateful. There is nothing wicked in what you've done for me. You've saved my life, Zelena.”

He stood again, still gripping her hand in his. “Ahh...Do I notice a blush under that emerald skin?” he asked, daring to lean forward with a leer. He knew what he looked like now and the effect he usually had on women back in his younger days.

Zelena  
It was difficult to take her eyes off him, but she intended to _admire_ his new self later. Right now, she had to pretend that she wasn’t impressed by his new appearance.   
Her eyes followed the cloak for a moment that he dropped on her marble, before she looked directly back into his eyes.  
“Of course I am, I told you I’m the wicked witch. Most powerful and…” she stopped in the middle of her sentence when he suddenly stepped forward, took her hand and knelt down on one knee. 

She had never reckoned he would do such a thing, and she was even more confused when he was _nice_ to her. No one was nice to her. They all came because they wanted magic, and in return Zelena got something she needed. No one had ever even thanked her, they were all glad they could get out of her castle alive.

And suddenly there was this bloody handsome pirate kneeling before her, and told her she had not only did something good, but also had saved his life.  
She didn’t know how to react to this, and she felt her cheeks getting warm. Actually for the first time in years. The last time she had blushed, as she could remember, was when Rumple had praised her for doing magic Regina couldn’t do yet.   
Zelena remembered the feeling of pride and joy that came along, but ever since she hadn’t experienced it anymore. 

And here she was, blushing. This time for another reason, but it felt nice and pleasant.   
He sweet talked her, and for a single moment she thought that it would be great if he was really meaning what he said. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. No one liked the wicked witch.   
She simply couldn’t believe that someone could like her. 

Zelena yanked her hand back he was holding, and backed away a few steps.  
She almost fell for his charme, again. His look, his behaviour, it was all to snow her.  
For the first time Zelena was complimented by a handsome, interesting and dauntless man, and she had no idea what to do with this. She was confused. Her heart and head seem to have started a fight. Her heart wished for nothing more than being liked and even loved, while she *knew* that there was no one who even cared about her. Only for her magic and using her. 

Her mother didn’t want her, her father had called her wicked, and although her powers were stronger than Regina’s, Rumple had chosen her sister.   
No one had ever wanted her, so how could a _pirate_ like her. 

In her confusion and disbelief she suddenly hissed at him. “Spare your words, I know how pirates are.”   
She glared at him, and turned her back to him, pretending to put the wand back. She was actually fleeing.

Killian  
After his heart-felt words, Zelena flung his hand off of her and retreated. He’d seen that expression in a number of individuals’ eyes because his appearance had offended them when he drew near as a haggard old drunkard. But he didn’t understand. She had fixed everything! Or had she deceived him and left him pock marked or worse? Truly not. He’d seen how she first looked at him before she backed away. He had noticed awe in her eyes. And he didn’t take Zelena with the pride she’d exhibited earlier as one to do shoddy work. No, he’d certainly offended her with something he’d said. “I apologize. Truly. I’m not from this land. I see I’ve offended you.”

But she didn’t lash out at him as he half-expected. Perhaps she wasn’t offended by him for being a pirate. He had been a pirate the whole time he’d been in Oz. That certainly hadn’t changed about him. So, it was something else.

“It’s not that, is it?” he asked taking a few steps closer to her as she rummaged around in the drawer of treasures again. “You’re in pain as I am. Judged because of your appearance and what you are just as I have been. As you’re judging me right now for being nothing but a pirate.” He frowned at Zelena’s back. “I don’t believe you’re truly wicked. Just… misunderstood in a land of beings so different from yourself. You and I are alike, don’t you see? I understand you.”

Why he was being so bold to a woman he had just met, he wasn't sure, but he could empathize with that pain he could see even in her rigid posture. With struggling so long as he had, his pain had transformed him into the old pirate he had been until he'd finally gotten the help he'd so long searched for. He was certain she'd done so well in helping him that he could even embrace his Alice again. And because of that gratitude, he felt he could help this suffering woman who perhaps had also been transformed in her pain. He'd already vowed to be employed by her, after all. What was a little time in helping her in the process?

Zelena  
Emotions were running deeply in her, and there was still the chaos in her that made her turning away from him; she didn’t want to see his splendid appearance now.   
But his words were getting to her, unfiltered and plain. And they hit her right into her heart.  
How could he know all this? He had never met her, he didn’t know *anything* about her.   
She wanted nothing more than to stop him from talking, but she was not able to do anything; because he was right. 

She had seen it, but she hadn’t noticed it. The shabby figure had his own sad story, a story that had proved to be true, otherwise the spell hadn’t worked on him. People, and she as well, hadn’t looked behind the mask, they hadn’t tried to.   
Wasn’t it the same with her? Who had ever tried to look behind all the green? 

Zelena put the wand down, not caring where, and supported herself on the drawer she had opened. Her shoulders writhed in emotional pain when she thought about her past.   
The witch took some deep breaths to gain control over her emotions again.   
Sweet words, nothing more. He wanted something from her. She assumed it was easy for him to read women, and guess a lot of things. Her head seem to win over her heart, and Zelena buried the hope deep inside her.

Slowly she turned to Hook when he was finished.   
She sneered at him, and eventually said, “We’re nothing alike. You think your pirate tongue works on me? Well - you’re wrong. I won’t fall for it. I’m sure you’re an expert in enchanting women, but that won’t work on me.I know exactly what I am - wicked! People tell me all the time, and they’re right.” She paused for a moment, and added, “Didn’t you hear the munchkins? You can stop pretending now. *No one*,” she enunciated the two words, “would understand or even like the wicked witch!”  
Her heart was racing, and she wished nothing more than being proven wrong by him, but there was no way. 

A screech, something Zelena welcomed more than anything else at the moment, appeared from outside, and she looked to the open window. Her monkey was back, and it had news.  
Zelena was glad that she could focus on something else now.  
“Beautiful one, have you found her,” she asked, and Walsh screeched something that made Zelena smile.   
“Excellent, good monkey. Go and find a treat for you.”  
Walsh hopped away, and Zelena turned to Hook.   
“Your charme will be very useful now. My monkey has found the girl, I want you to win her trust, and find out what she is planning against me. You promised you’d work for me in return that I made you young again? Here you go.”

Zelena would poof him close to Dorothy’s camp after sharing some more details with him. Once he was gone Zelena activated her spying mirror and watched the pirate.

Killian  
Killian's face screwed up at Zelena's words--of how wicked she was, but still, all he could see was pain radiating off of her. His lips firmed into a line. He thought to ask her to prove it to him, show him how wicked she was, to do her worst, but even he wasn't so sure she would restrain herself. He didn't know her despite her being the one to save him.

A bloody moment later and the fucking monkey returned. Killian's lip raised in disgust at the sight despite Zelena's praise of the thing. Her perception of beauty was off kilter, in his opinion.

She began to give him instructions, but without context, he was confused. He shook his head to protest. "Wait, what girl? You haven't told me--" and the next thing he knew, he was surrounded in green smoke and in an entirely new place.

"What the bloody hell..." he mumbled to himself as he turned around. He seemed to have been dropped right into hell for certain as there were a plethora of the little bastards running about.

"Oh! Hello there!" one of the unpleasant things said with the most unnatural and rosiest cheeks he'd ever seen. Killian's nose scrunched as he drew his head back and his hook toward his chest as if it might spread something to him.

"Aye..." he said suspiciously. "Where the devil am I?"

"Why, you're in Oz of course!"

Killian rolled his eyes at getting an obvious answer. He'd have to find out himself. "I'm looking for a girl...?" he said, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

"A girl? What girl? Are you seeking true love?"

Killian scoffed immediately. "What about some rum? Or bloody weapons? Have you got any vices here at all or is it just lollipops and gumdrops?"

The little creature nodded joyfully. "Oh yes! We have all sorts of sweets." Totally missing his inquiry about vices. Killian shook his head and walked on, briefly glancing within tents here and there, but there seemed to be no 'girl' in sight.

Zelena  
The pirate vanished, his half said sentence hanging in midair.   
Zelena rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me he doesn’t even know Dorothy is a girl,” she complained at her monkey. Walsh made a hissing noise, and took off. He knew that Zelena awaited to stay close to her new *employee* and watch him.

When Walsh had left, Zelena magically activated her spying mirror on the floor, and the image of a swearing pirate appeared.   
Zelena watched him closely, and heard every word. She had to smile unwillingly when she heard him talk.   
Maybe she had wronged him? He couldn’t know that she was spying on him, and he still was that funny, impertinent, charming pirate. 

She also asked herself if a more detailed briefing would have been better. Looking for ‘a girl’ might not be enough. Unless he planned on playing the ignorant pirate. Maybe he thought it was easier that way to get closer to Dorothy? By pretending to be a pirate who was looking for his way back to his ship? 

Zelena pursed her lips. He was really clever, she had to give him that.   
Impatiently she watched him walking between the tents, looking for Dorothy.  
At least Zelena thought so.


	3. Chapter 3

Killian  
After nearly an hour of wandering and finding no such girl outside of the Munchkin-folk--surely Zelena hadn't wanted him to question one of them, so he assumed it had to be a tall person--he raised his nose to the scent of the sea. His eyebrows twitched in interest as his path diverted toward the ocean. He did manage to cross paths with other non-vertically challenged individuals, glad to see that he and Zelena weren't truly the tallest people in this land.

"Oi, mate, have you seen a girl about?" he gestured toward the surrounding woods, but a tradesman and a baker woman shook their heads and backed away from him in a hurry once they noticed his hook. He was an outsider and they didn't trust him. "Fine," he grumbled as he continued towards the water. Surely the sailors there would be less inclined to cast frightened eyes his way.

He passed a few fishmongers hawking their catches of the day. He inquired of each of them. One actually proved helpful. "Oh, you mean Dorothy? She's the only girl I've seen 'round here," one of the fishers responded.

"Oh, aye?" Killian asked, inclining his chin as he eyed the man. And here he'd thought Zelena's adversary had been a man.

The fisher nodded and put his hand out, clearly expecting payment. Killian rolled his eyes again. Why was everyone seeking payment? Two fingers fit into a small pocket in his waistcoat and he lifted out two gold doubloons. He held them up in the air, but yanked his hand back with a teasing grin. "First, you tell me what I need to know and then I pay you."

The fisher crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "She's set sail, but I'm not sayin' to where 'less ya pay me." There was severe doubt in the truthfulness of the matter. Hadn't Zelena just said Dorothy had been spotted? Of course, she'd gotten her news from the pea-brained monkey...

Killian stuck the doubloons back into his pocket and drew his sword, holding it to the man's throat. "How about this? I don't cut your throat and you tell me the truth? I know Dorothy's just been spotted. I mean to find out where she is." The man's bravery vanished instantly as he shook and pointed across the dock toward another ship. Killian turned his head to follow the gesture without moving the sword yet. "If I find you've lied to me, you had better not be here when I get back." He withdrew the sword, only leaving a tiny knick of blood before walking away.

He was in quite a mood as he approached the other ship when someone grabbed his arm. "You're the outsider everyone's speaking about!" the gnarled old crone said to him. "The Wicked Witch won't let you live long. You should go home where you belong!"

Killian yanked his arm out of the crone's strong grasp, but the crone continued. "This ship here will take you home. Your visit to Oz has concluded, hasn't it?"

A way back home to the Enchanted Forest? He didn't have to sweet-talk Zelena into helping him find a portal home either?

"It will cost you two gold pieces," the crone said, eyeballing his waistcoat. He narrowed his eyes thinking she must have noticed him with the fishmonger. "Don't believe me?" the crone asked before pointing a gnarled hand toward the ship behind her. "Pegasus feather sail. It will work, I tell you! Two gold pieces and you're free to go aboard and keep your life!"

Killian dug in his pocket and found the coins, but he felt terribly guilty. He had given his word, yet Alice was still out there somewhere. He had no bloody idea where though. He needed magical help. Perhaps if he could get Zelena to trust him, he could win her over to help him find her.

He wanted her to trust him though. He thought she could empathize with him as well if she stopped dismissing him every time he tried to speak to her. He understood being the outcast and hated for being a pirate and later an old drunkard. Couldn’t she understand how he felt too? Perhaps he had to show her.

When his eyes moved to the crone again, his fingers slipped the coins back into his pocket.

Zelena  
Zelena had actually awaited that her newfound pirate would at some point give up on looking for that unknown girl, but he tried for another hour.   
She felt a bit sorry for treating him so badly, but she hadn't been prepared for such... personal insights.   
Maybe she could... do something nice for him later, provided he was successful.

Her doubts if he really was trustworthy resurfaced when she saw him arriving at the docks. She had better think of that before sending him away; if he managed to hire only ten pirates to help him against her, the wicked witch might get a problem.  
Keeping ten munchkins off of her was already a challenge, but ten pirates... well. He hadn't done such thing yet, and Zelena hoped he wouldn't get any idea regarding this.

In fact, it seemed he was still looking for Dorothy. Zelena had completely forgotten that pirates were also a source of information, and Hook was clever enough to ask the right questions.   
She got excited when she heard someone saying he would know Dorothy, and saw Hook taking out two gold doubloons to pay the man.   
Or not. Zelena watched the _negotations_, and was more and more impressed by Hook's negotiating skills and his skill at all being a pirate.

It was a joy to see him working, how he was threatening people, and get what he wanted without paying necessarily. And he always sounded so confident with a dose of sassiness and witticism.   
Zelena felt a connection to him she hadn't realized before.   
She also realized that she began to really _like_ this pirate.

That was until someone offered a passage back to the Enchanted Forest to him, and warned him that Zelena would kill him.   
She felt a boiling rage inside her by hearing that, and pressed her lips together while a corner of her mouth was slightly twitching in anger.  
She would kill this crone, she thought, while she glared at the magical mirror.   
She knew he would break his promise, she could feel it. The truth was, she awaited Hook to do it, as it would prove to her that everything he said had been a lie. He _couldn't_ have meant what he had said.   
Her heart on the other hand wished for him to walk away, rejecting the offer.   
For a second Zelena kept her breath, and then she saw Killian dug in his pockets, finding the coins.

"I knew it, **I knew it**!" Zelena physically lashed out for the mirror, and magic crackled around her hands, hit the mirror, and let the image dissolve before she could see that Killian put the coins back.   
She was boiling of rage, and poofed herself directly to the docks, appearing in front of the pirate and the crone.

“That’s how you keep your promise, is it?” She was all hissing at him, and clearly furious so that Killian wouldn’t have a chance to reply yet.   
The crone was still standing beside them, and Zelena yanked out her hand, thrust it into the chest of the old hag, and ripped out her heart.  
The woman gasped, but couldn’t say anything anymore. Her eyes widened in fear before she sank to the ground when Zelena crushed her heart, and let the dust blown away by the wind.  
She didn’t care about the corpse nor the screaming people around her. It had merely taken a few seconds to kill her. Zelena waved her hand, and green smoke engulfed Hook and her.

He would find himself back in a cell in her dungeon. Zelena had her hands laid around the bars, and looked at him, her eyes full of the pain of his betrayal.   
Her voice was trembling when she hissed at him, “All you ever wanted was to use me, and sweet-talk me by using your charm and betray me. And you wonder why I am wicked?”  
Her lips were trembling too, and she was teary-eyed. She knew she was about to lose it, but she felt like he had ripped out her heart.  
The disappointment about his betrayal was bitter, and Zelena waved her hand, leaving a gift in his cell, before she turned and walked away.

Words were not necessary. The mirror she had conjured for him would show him what she had given him, nothing less than _his life_ as he had said himself. It was also a way of spying on him.   
Despite what he had done Zelena hoped he would reveal his true intentions. She couldn’t understand why he was so ungrateful, as in the beginning it had looked like he would stick to his promise.  
Zelena was more than upset and vanished into her bedroom where another mirror was standing. She activated it, and looked at Hook.

Killian  
He shoved the coins back in his pocket and shook his head, but a green mist was rising up around him. “What?” he started to say and then quickly realized he had been caught. His eyes flew wide to see Zelena standing before him, yelling at him and suddenly plunging her hand into the old woman's chest. His mouth opened in shock. It was just the same as what happened to Milah. Instead of seeing the crone falling to the ground, his eyes showed him the memory of Milah squeezing her eyes in pain as she died. His eyes shot to Zelena, half expecting to see the crocodile before him after all these years; he was speechless.

He barely noticed the smoke engulfing him. When he blinked and his sights made sense again, he realized he was in a dark place. A brig, to be exact. Zelena was speaking to him, accusing him. Emotion rattled her voice, and he frowned at her. "Zelena," he said in a half-whisper, shaking his head, finding his voice had nearly failed him after what he'd witnessed at the docks and the feeling of Milah's death fresh on his mind again. He was also acutely aware of his own heartbeat. It still was beating. She hadn't killed him, at least. That was more important right now.

But Zelena was gone and had left him with a full-length mirror. There was sufficient light in the brig that he could see his own reflection in it. What an odd gift, but his eyebrow rose and he tilted his head as he took observed the fact that he captured his entire image within it. She had left it to remind him of what she had done for him and her accusation that he had betrayed her. He sighed heavily and bowed his head.

After some time, it was apparent that Zelena was going to leave him there to rot. It gave him time to think over what he'd been through recently. The terrible things he had done leading up to getting to Oz and what he'd done since arriving.

He found a small bucket in the corner with water in it and used it to splash his face. Then he began to pace. After some pacing, he looked at the mirror in the cell. He didn't smile at himself as he'd so often done in the past when passing a mirror. Oh, Zelena had truly done a marvelous job on restoring him, but his eyes moved downward as he frowned. He poked and felt at his chest, pulled at his face and sighed deeply. Perhaps she had cured him, but he'd bloody failed and none of it had mattered. He hung his head and walked slowly to the water bucket which he had deemed his resting corner. He sat on the edge of a stone ledge and sighed again before laying back on it. Thinking of how he'd failed Milah and lost his hand as a reminder, he gripped the hook, thinking of removing it and hurling it at the mirror, but what good would that do him? No, this was no way to think! This wasn't the end for him. He'd find a way out. He got up again, restless, his posture read as he paced the small space before leaning heavily against a wall, doubling at the waist and covered his face with his hand in his failure.

Zelena  
The edge of the mirror in her room began to glow, and the mirror face changed from her own reflection into the image of Hook. She stared at him.  
Barely two hours ago she had considered to call him 'Killian'. It sounded nicer than calling for his replacement hand. Now she realized the name 'Hook' was more than appropriate for him; she felt like he got her hooked.  
She was still upset, and for a moment thought she should leave him there and simply forget about him.   
She wanted to look away, let his image vanish... but she couldn't. 

Zelena knew what she had seen before, she knew he had betrayed her, and yet her heart told her that she didn't get the whole picture. It was the way he looked into the mirror, and because of his postural change.   
The witch tilted her head slightly, and tried to read him while she watched him for a while.

All his pride and arrogance he had shown before seemed to be gone.   
He did some pacing, and looked again into the mirror. There was no smile anymore when he surveyed his new body.   
His vigor was mostly gone. He didn't even try to escape, he just...   
Zelena swallowed when there was a moment she managed to catch a glimpse into his eyes.   
She knew this look, she had seen it more than often; every time she looked into the mirror and saw her own reflection.  
It was a pain deep inside the heart, and Zelena knew she saw the real man behind the pirate mask. A broken man who was struggling for something he would probably never get.

And yet... he had betrayed her. But for other reasons.   
_Very likely for honorable reasons, more important reasons than to get his youth back_. The words sounded in her head, and Zelena knew this time her heart would be stronger than her greenish mind.  
Because she knew how he felt.  
She suddenly regretted that she didn't even give him a _chance_ to explain himself.  
Zelena felt pity for him, and this time she could be sure to see his real feelings. He did not know she was spying on him. He thought he would be alone.

Zelena looked down, and her own wicked mask came down.   
Her feelings, that she had always suppressed so masterly hit her, and she remembered suddenly that he had said her name before she had left him. Maybe she didn't want to hear it as he had said her name in a soft and gentle way Zelena had never heard anyone say it before.

When she looked at his image again she saw him there, leaning against a wall, doubled at the waist, and his face buried in his hands.   
It was too much. Zelena made a quick gesture with her hand, and his image vanished. She needed some time to compose herself, and decided for once to follow her heart. It was strongly beating in her chest, and when she looked down at herself she saw that she was still wearing her black, favourite wicked witch outfit.   
It felt wrong this time. 

She changed into a dark green dress, that made her look a bit softer, and made her way to the kitchen to get some water and something to eat for the pirate. She walked all the way so she had time to steel herself. She wanted to give him a chance to explain himself, but she also didn't want him to think she would have become weak.

She arrived at his cell, and gave him a bit of a frosty look.   
"I brought some water and something to eat for you. And... I decided to give you the chance to explain yourself before I leave again."  
She was glad that her voice sounded steady.   
She kneeled down, shoved the jug with water through the bars, and placed a loaf of bread on the top.  
Then she got up again, and waited.

Killian  
Killian had been sitting on the ledge with his elbows on his knees, his head dipped as he thought when he heard a noise approaching. If it was another bloody rat, he’d ignore it rather than shoo it away this time just for something to look at other than his reflection in the mirror left to taunt him.

But it was Zelena, his captor. He watched as she approached the bars and pushed a container then a loaf of bread through the bars. He narrowed his eyes slightly wondering why she was bringing him that. And then she explained, in a softer voice, that she wanted to give him a chance before she left him there again.

Would she believe him? Everything he’d tried to say before, she had ignored. He found he didn’t care to explain himself and kept a blank expression on his face as he stood and approached the bars. His fingers went into his pocket and he pulled out the coins he hadn’t used and set them one at a time on the horizontal portion of the bar in between them. Maybe that would be sufficient in showing her that he had changed his mind at the docks.

The slightest crinkle at the corners of his eyes would give away his blank expression as he noticed she changed her dress, his eyes dropping slightly to look at her up close. But still he wouldn’t explain. “For the lodging and food, since I appear to no longer be in your employ.” His eyes rose to look her in the eyes again. He was only slightly angry about his situation. He was more angry with himself than with Zelena because he had been truly horrible. He’d even left a duplicate version of himself to die in an alleyway just because the other man had more than he had. What kind of man had he become since his heart was poisoned? Only regret and self-loathing would show in his otherwise blank expression as he stood before Zelena.

Zelena  
His demeanor had changed again. Zelena had awaited it would, as he wasn’t alone anymore, but she was not fully prepared for the cold he emitted.  
Maybe she shouldn’t have changed her dress.   
He stayed silent when she made her offer, but he stepped to the bars. Zelena backed away a step, and her eyes darted back and forth between his eyes and the coins he was suddenly pulling out of his pocket. 

Zelena narrowed her eyes when he placed them on the crossbar. She had no idea what he intended to tell her with doing that, and she didn’t know those were the coins he *didn’t* give the old hag. She must assume he would possess more than that, so there was no way for her to know.

Her blue eyes looked daggers at him when he coldly explained what the coins were for.   
Zelena regretted now that she had allowed herself to feel pity for the pirate.   
The corner of her mouth twitched, and she used magic to blast the coins back into his cell.   
“Keep your gold to yourself, I never wanted money. Only someone who wouldn’t lie to me for once! You double crossed me by the way, how can I trust you ever again that you won’t walk away again if you work for me?”

All her sympathetically feelings she had for him were overshadowed by the anger she felt about his reaction, and she turned again to leave… then hesitated. She faced Hook again, and said, whereby she saw the slightest sign or emotions in his icy expression, “I didn’t need to come here, and yet I did.” She wanted to say more, wanted to rage at him, but all her emotions were chaotic and mixed up, leaving her speechless and confused. 

She remembered his charming words earlier in the throne room, when he had told her he wouldn’t see wicked in her. After seeing him in the mirror a few minutes ago she was tempted to believe him, and she was angry because she had messed things up again. It was her way to protect herself, and pushing him away hadn’t been enough. Instead he had hurt her more than she had thought, but she also knew he had every right because she had hurt him in the first place. Or not? Were his words true or not? 

Zelena didn’t know anything anymore. She didn’t know if she could believe him or not, she didn’t know if she felt pity for him or not, and she didn’t know if she should stay or go.   
She decided to leave.   
“I guess my well-intended visit here was a mistake. Don’t bother.”  
She turned a second time away from him, and headed back again.

Killian  
He hadn’t meant it as a slight, even though there had been some acerbity in his tone, but he saw immediately by Zelena’s reaction that the only thing he said to her was taken the wrong way. She didn’t understand what he was trying to show her- that he hadn’t paid for the passage home, that he hadn’t betrayed her trust. He stepped back in a hurry when she blasted the coins back into the cell at him and he glared in defense as she talked about trust. When had she trusted him? He would laugh at the idea but it wasn’t in the least funny and he’d found his sense of humor had dried up. It was all a bad misunderstanding. Women treated him like this all the time before Alice was born, usually striking him with a hand or with a verbal tongue lashing. He’d always taken it in stride, accustomed to it, and moved along; there were plenty of fish in the sea, after all. But he was stuck and clearly not going anywhere as Zelena was walking away from him. His hand grasped the bar as he watched her leave and his boot struck the water pitcher, spilling the contents. Looking down, he scoffed at the water running out of the cell and shook his head as his eyes followed the disappearing woman out. “Zelena!”

Killian closed his eyes and set his forehead on the bars. Perhaps he was being foolish but he certainly didn’t want to stay in the brig for long. If he could talk his way out of anything, he’d try. And she had given him a chance and it hadn’t convinced her. “What can I do to prove to you that I didn’t betray you?” Since his ideas hadn’t worked, he was offering her the option to tell him what she needed. If she was even still listening.

Zelena  
She didn't reckon he would try to stop her. Pirates were a pride sort of people, weren't they? Paying for food and lodging, pah! He was mocking her. He would rather die than explain her anything!   
Her pace slowed down, and she stopped before she left the brig.   
Wasn't that exactly what she would do if the tables were turned?  
He had said it, and Zelena had seen it. They really were a lot alike.  
She sighed. Why was he doing this to her?   
She didn't care about anyone because no one cared for her and yet he was putting her off her stride. Thinking about it, she came to realize that he had that affect on her because he wasn't scared of her. He talked to her without grovelling, and had even been demanding. Zelena liked that.

Could she have found someone who would stay and keep her company? Someone not being a hypocrite?   
Yes, that pirate was someone like that. He had a strong personality and that was also the reason why he would never stay. The witch curled her lips. Was she willing to put effort into him? Try to show him there was someone just as broken and full of pride like he was? Hadn’t she tried already by coming down here?

Zelena was about to continue her way when she heard a behind her, and then his voice, calling for her.   
She hesitated. His voice didn’t sound angry, but asking. Should she go back?   
While she still considered what to do she could hear him again, asking how to prove to her that he had not betrayed her.   
Zelena’s mouth felt suddenly dry. _Not_ betrayed her? But she had seen him diving his hand into his pocket and produce the gold coins…   
The witch suddenly realized that she did _not_ have seen that he gave them to the woman.  
She could feel her heartbeat in her throat, and she slowly walked back.

His cell came in sight, and she could see him grabbing the bars. He had leaned his forehead to the bars and a puddle of water was running out of the cell. He had knocked the pitcher over.  
She crossed her arms in front of her chest before she stepped into his sight. It was not a defensive gesture, although he probably would think that. Zelena more tried to keep her feelings hidden, and it somehow felt better to cover the place where her heart was. Ridiculous, and yet soothing.

She stood there, and looked at him for a moment before she said “I saw you taking the coins out of your pocket to pay the passage she offered you.”   
Her voice was calm, and not accusing, she just stated something. She had seen it. Now it was up to him to explain to her why that wasn’t a betrayal. Her eyes would tell him that she only wanted him to talk to her, convince her by telling her the truth and look at her.

Killian  
When Zelena came back, Killian drew back from the bars but kept his hand on one. She wasn't yelling at him this time and he had to pause a moment as if waiting for her to add the extra part where she did yell at him. But no, she wasn't going to this time, it seemed. Her posture wasn't exactly open with her arms crossed, but she seemed willing to listen.

He tilted his head and raised one finger up. "You were watching me." It wasn't a question but to let her know that he knew now that she had a certain fascination for him. Only the slightest quirk to the side of his lips would show that he meant it lightly. He simply couldn't help tease her as he was so accustomed to doing so to lighten the mood.

He sighed and gestured with the hook toward the ground where the coins had been blasted into the cell. "The very coins I just showed you, love. The only two I brought with me to Oz. You saw me pull them from my vest?"

He leaned his shoulder into the bar, his side facing her as he looked down at the hook. "I did contemplate going. To take the opportunity to go home." He paused and shook his head as he arranged his thoughts. "I'm not... finished here." Glancing up at Zelena again, he narrowed his eyes in seriousness. "I made a promise to stay, to help you. You've got a serious munchkin and monkey infestation and I intend to... do away with it all if that's your wish." He gestured with a sweeping motion to demonstrate dramatically. He was mostly joking about the infestation, but he hoped he could gain a smile from her at least. "And when I've helped you and you're satisfied," he shrugged with the hope that he could do such a thing now that she was listening to him, "then, I'll discuss with you some mode of transport home."

Zelena  
This time he decided to talk as it seemed. His very first sentence made her almost snap at him, saying something like “I watch everyone, especially pirates” but she didn’t. She swallowed her anger about his teasing, and pressed her lips together. She wanted to let him talk first. 

Zelena’s eyes followed his gesturing hook toward the coins that were lying somewhere on the ground. Did he just say he had only brought along two of them?   
Her lips parted slightly in disbelief, and she now knew why he had placed the coins onto the bars - he had thought if she would see them she’d knew he hadn’t given them to the crone to pay her.  
Zelena felt worse than ever before. He also revealed that he indeed had considered to leave her, but had decided to keep his part of the deal.  
Zelena looked deep into his eyes, and she knew he didn’t lie to her now. Actually, he was even trying to lighten the mood by falling back into his charming pirate manner.

Much to the indignation of her, his words about a “serious munchkin and monkey infestation” made her smile. She tried to hide her smile, and her expression changed when he added that once he would be finished to work for her, he would leave.

Zelena didn’t say anything, but scrutinized him. Her eyes locked onto his, while she tried to decide what to do now.   
She had wronged him, but she wouldn’t apologize. She never did. It was a sign of weakness.  
And he really had thought about leaving. So, she was tempted to think they were even. 

It took a while before she eventually began to speak.  
“I decided to believe you,” she just said, and waved her hand. The two coins magically flew back into his pocket again, and the cell door swung open.   
“Come with me.” She turned, and without looking if he would follow she walked out of the brig. 

She led him into a side wing in her castle, and opened two doors. They entered and stood in a larger room that was carpeted, and contained a comfortable, large bed, a table with two stools, some furniture and another full-length mirror. A bathroom with a bathtub was affiliated to the room.

Zelena waved her hand again, and on a footstool that was standing beside the bed, a new set of clothes appeared very similar to the clothes Hook was wearing now.  
“Feel free to take a bath and get changed. This will be your room until I decide otherwise. Don’t walk around in the castle on your own and without my permission. And don’t give me another reason to lock you up again.”  
She watched him, and waited for any questions or comments before she would withdraw and leave him alone. 

Killian  
She... believed him. Killian was momentarily speechless as the bars vanished and she beckoned him to follow her. Well, perhaps he still could talk his way out of anything. He spoke the truth and it had worked.

Following behind Zelena with a faster pace brought him in stride with her; he wasn't going to walk behind for long. When she brought him to a large room with a bed and lavish decor to include a bath, he was more than impressed. It was clear she was rewarding him and he had more to prove to her about his loyalty, but it seemed there was a caveat. "Another prison of sorts?" he asked as he looked around. The clothing was nice. Similar to his doppelganger's attire he had been wearing since Zelena cured him, but with an added bit of his own preferred flair--a longer coat.

He saw she was about to leave him there again, but he spoke up while she was still within hearing range. He just could not help himself. "What are you hiding outside this room, I wonder. Are your quarters near? Afraid I might wish to discover your nocturnal habits like a common lecher?"

Zelena  
It seemed ever since he had left the brig he had transformed back into the sassy pirate.  
“I wouldn’t call it prison, but at the moment you’re a guest with very limited freedoms, I’d say. Sounds nicer, doesn’t it?”  
Aside from that he seemed to prefer this *other* prison. She thought he wouldn’t ask no more and was about to leave, but she was mistaken.  
She narrowed her eyes and gave him a warning look.  
“Don’t think I would be afraid of you. I just want to make sure you don’t get any second thoughts about leaving OZ.”

Zelena grinned, and then said, “You would be surprised about my nocturnal habits, love.”  
The doors closed with a bang when Zelena left.   
She hoped she had made him curious. It was funny in a way, he talked about discovering her nocturnal habits if he was allowed to wander around, and Zelena thought about spying on him to find out *his* nocturnal habits.   
She hoped he wouldn’t figure out *how* she was able to see and hear everything.

For now she returned to her throne room, and had her servants prepare the dinner table.   
“Don’t forget the rum,” she said.  
Once she had the feeling they arranged everything like she wanted it, she went to her private room, and decided to take a bath.   
While she laid in the hot water covered with foam, she decided to have a look at her new houseguest. She used a hand mirror this time and activated it.

Killian  
Killian raised a shoulder at her inquiry over his current situation being better than the prior one. Of course it was better, but he didn't have to admit it. Instead, he slowly ambled around the room inspecting what he did have access to. When she mentioned fearing him, he glanced over his shoulder at her with a raised eyebrow. He hadn't acted in any way to intimidate her yet and she was clearly more powerful than he. But it did give him some satisfaction that she might be slightly intimidated merely by her mention of it.

As she spoke, he ran a finger across the end of the bed and raised it to see there was no dust. Clean. Much better than the brig. And when she mentioned her own nocturnal habits being surprising, he stopped and looked at her. Now he was certainly curious. Was she tempting him to leave the room against her orders? Unless she locked the door on her way out, he was certain he was going to test her.

Thus left alone, he continued his casual inspection of the room to find she had left another full length mirror. He stopped before it, looking closely at the frame and finally at his reflection. She certainly fancied mirrors. Was it a vanity issue? Or the constant reminder of her helping him with his appearance? Raising an eyebrow, he pondered over this.

The smell of cooking food wafted into the room and he raised his chin as he sniffed the air. Certainly she would invite him to dinner as well. He should take the bath offered. His attention went back to the mirror. The slightest smirk raised the corner of his mouth.

The vest of his doppelganger produced a unique quandary: How to remove the blasted thing. There was a small metal hanging tag and a line of metal teeth. He pulled on the tag and found it began to open the vest by pulling downwards. Certainly helpful for an individual with one hand, however, it did nothing to assist him with the shirt beneath and its row of buttons and eyeholes. He'd gotten quite proficient with buttons in his years even if he preferred clothing with hook closures. He got the shirt unbuttoned and stood there before the mirror looking at his own eyes, a smirk spreading across his face. Then he turned and strolled towards the bath, a whistling tune echoing through the large room.

He removed the shirt and vest as he walked and threw them at a piece of furniture, then removed his boots and trousers before stepping into the already hot bath that had been awaiting him. Convenient. As he sunk into the hot water, he felt the tension in his body releasing. A sigh escaped him as he leaned back. The brace and hook needed to come off as well, so he unfastened it and set it on the side and sunk into the water.

Zelena  
The image in the mirror showed Killian when he had just unbuttoned his shirt. The last Zelena thought of herself was being a peeping witch, but she had seen men with a bare chest before. Well, actually two to be exact. One of them was her father when she was a teenager, and he had been quite angry when she had entered his bedroom to clean it. She didn’t even know he was home, and when she saw him half naked, he had yelled at her, and had slapped her hard in the face.   
Zelena would never forget this day when he reproached her of having no manners and being wicked. Why didn’t she knock! Zelena had never forgotten to knock again ever since.

The other man’s bare chest she had seen was actually Rumplestiltskin’s. He wasn’t exactly shirtless, but she had seen him standing in front of a full length mirror, and his shirt was open, just enough so she could see more of him than usual. She was just about to enter, but had stopped, and watched him. He hadn’t seen her, and Zelena would never forget the golden and green shimmering scalish skin of him.

However, the pirate had only unbuttoned his shirt and Zelena could see that he had quite a lot of chest hair. It fascinated her, and she liked it! Although she couldn’t see much, but he had revealed enough already so she could picture him. She could also see how athletic he was.   
In general he looked much better than the others. She didn’t _want_ to look away.  
She was almost disappointed when he turned, and before he entered the bath he removed his shirt and vest, and Zelena could see his bare back. The sight pleased her.

He entered the bath and Zelena put the mirror away before he removed the rest. She would not spy on him in such a dishonorable manner. And… there was the thing that she hadn’t seen _any_ man completely naked by now.   
It was a secret Zelena carefully kept as she felt embarrassed about not having any experience with men. Aside from killing them of course.   
Her father had done everything to hide her from the world, as he didn’t want anyone to find out about his wicked daughter, and no one was interested in her in a romantic way later.   
So how should she know…

Didn’t he ask about her quarters? Maybe she should tell him where her bedroom was, just out of curiosity if he really dared to ‘visit’ her. Zelena made a hissing noise that was a mixture of laughter and ridiculousness.  
She would surely not allow him to seduce her. It was hard enough for her to resist his charm. She had to do something about that.


	4. Chapter 4

Zelena  
She finished her bath, and thought about wearing a very tight bodice under her dress tonight, just to make herself uncomfortable.  
She went downstairs, awaiting that dinner was ready.  
“You, get the pirate down here,” she pointed at a random guard when she entered the main chamber. The guard flinched when the wicked witch addressed him.  
“Y-y-y-y-y-es y-y-y-y-yo-your wickednes-s-s-ssss.”  
Zelena rolled her eyes when he stammered around, and hoped he would at least find the way. “His presence is required, make that clear to him,” she added and sighed.  
The witch sat down and tested the wine while she waited.

Killian  
After an indeterminate amount of time in the bath, Killian felt himself slipping into relaxed slumber when the door burst open and some moron in an odd uniform demanded he go to Zelena.

Killian glared at him and looked down at himself in the bath. "Do you not see that I'm indisposed at the moment? Her highness can wait," he snapped. Oh, he'd only said that to push the guard into defying his mistress and it clearly had an effect on the man. He looked over his shoulder out the door and when he looked back at Killian, he seemed to come to some decision.

"Her wickedness says your presence is required, so I'm not leaving until you come with me." The guard crossed his arms over his armored chest.

Killian made a disgruntled noise and stood from the bathtub despite his nudity. He stepped over the edge and snatched his brace and hook up, pushing it down onto his arm. "Fine. Always demanding, never asking," Killian grumbled loud enough for the guard to hear.

"Um, but, Pirate, you have to dress first."

Killian drew his head back. "You expect I'm that sort of pirate? Please be assured, I wouldn't want to offend her highness's eyes."

He found a towel and dried off rather leisurely. No one bothered to ask him what he wanted, after all, so he'd take his time. Again, he started whistling.

Zelena  
Her wickedness was waiting impatiently by now. She tapped her finger on the table, and had her second glass of wine already.  
What the bloody hell took him so long?  
She was tempted to use her mirror to check on him when she heard someone approach outside.  
“Finally.” Zelena stood up, and walked down the aisle.  
The doors opened and the guard entered with the pirate behind him.  
“What took you so long? Dinner’s ready since hours.”

Zelena saw that Hook - or should she refer to him as Killian now - was wearing only his shirt and pants, and his hair was shimmering from moisture.  
"Seems you enjoyed the hot water longer than I did," she commented, and nodded at the guard who was relieved he was allowed to go back to his post. 

She made an inviting gesture toward the table in the back for Killian. "I hope you enjoy other food than fish too, but there's rum." She waited until he sat down and leaned back in her chair, looking at him. 

"It's not poisoned, in case you think that. So, do you like _your room_ so far? Anything missing? Swords, rum, whores, your Captain's hat?"  
Zelena suggested while she filled her plate with some vegetables.  
"Like some wine too?"

Killian  
As Zelena demanded to know what took him so long and insisted he sit, he sat. "Aye, that I did," he agreed to the comment about the long bath. But when she moved to sit on the opposite end of the table from him, he got up and moved to the seat directly next to hers. He'd not be kept at a distance and if his nearness caused her to squirm, he'd be more delighted in the process.

"I'll have you know that I don't wear a Captain's hat," he said also leaning back in his chair. "Does no good for the hair." He made a general gesture toward said hair and then relaxed in the chair. His elbow was propped up on the table and his chin set upon his thumb, his pointer finger against his cheek as he observed Zelena's attire. So she had bathed as well... and put on a rather constricting bodice, he'd wager as the swell of her bosom was quite noticeable. He hadn't had the time to fully dress and was only sitting before her in the half-buttoned black shirt and trousers she had provided. He had taken the time to put his boots on, but his hair was still wet from the bath and his sword had been left behind. His eyes focused on Zelena's eyes again. "As for the rum, I see you've taken good care of that. Got me own sword. And as for whores and wine... My, aren't you accommodating." He smirked. If she could be sarcastic at him for delaying her dinner, he could play along.

One of the servants poured the wine into Killian's cup and he eyed the fellow. There was a slight tremor to his hand. "Relax, mate," Killian told him and took the wine bottle from him. "I think we can serve ourselves, aye?" he asked Zelena and then waved the servant away with the hook to leave them be. Killian refilled Zelena's glass then set the bottle down and lifted his own glass. Holding the glass up, he proposed a toast. "To... hot baths and good wine, but most of all, a good time." By showing her that he was not bothered by her attitude toward him and with the toast, he hoped she would ease up around him. If not, it was going to be a long, bloody tenure in her service.

Zelena  
The witch narrowed her eyes when the pirate switched places and made himself comfortable to her left.  
“Assume I’m flattered that you came closer to have a better look at me,” she said, and leaned back like he did, listened to him and crossed her legs while her blue eyes were following every move he made. She noticed the tiny movements of his eyes, wandering over her face and body before he continued talking.  
She smirked back at him when he praised her being accommodating, and waited until her servant had left, shooed away by Killian.  
She uncrossed her legs when he refilled her glass, and leaned forward to take it. 

“You’re good in serving wine, you noticed that my servants are mostly scared about being near me and unfortunately they often spill the good wine. Too bad you’re overskilled for that job.”  
She held her glass up as well, and nodded at his toast.  
While she drank to this she thought about what to do now.  
It was the first time ever since she transformed the Wizard of OZ into her flying monkey that she had company, someone who joined her for dinner and was not scared about having a conversation with her.  
She was curious about the pirate, she had to admit, and she wanted to find out what he was hiding. No doubt she would, but there was the *easy* way, and the *hard* way.

“Now that you have made yourself comfortable here, and obviously have everything you need, why not telling me how your ‘youth’ had been stolen?” She smiled nicely.  
“Such a clever, strong, charming and handsome pirate like you, I can hardly imagine that someone managed to… trick you and changed you into such old, disheveled, beer-gutted and ragged scoundrel. Still charming, but… well.”  
She was still holding the glass with her wine and took a long sip now, her eyes visible over the edge and slightly narrowed.

She put the glass back and knew he wouldn’t fall for flattery, he was far too clever for that, but if she was lucky he would spill one or two hints so Zelena learned more about him, and after all - it was better than staying silent.

Killian  
Killian tilted his head in acknowledgement of her being flattered at him looking at her. She was quick, that was certain, and he grinned in appreciation of the potential for a cordial verbal sparring.

"Aye, over skilled in serving wine, but much more skilled in other areas of expertise, I assure you." His eyebrows danced as he smirked over his cup.

It was his turn to be flattered but he was no longer so amused as she asked him about a curse he thought he'd already explained. He tilted his head back as his eyes continued to watch Zelena. Had she not believed him earlier? Or had he given away that he hadn't been completely honest about the curse? "You wound me in your description, love. Ragged..." He shook his head but shrugged; she wasn't completely wrong about the rest of it. "Aye, well, indeed." But she seemed intent on hearing something from him so he took a deep drink of the wine before setting it down. There was food to be eaten and Zelena had already partially filled her plate. He forked a few slices of meat and set them on his plate.

"Well, you see, I've a tender spot in my heart for women in dire straits, as it seems. The young woman--Rapunzel, her name is--was trapped up high in a tower with no door." He gestured upwards as if picturing the day like yesterday. "She threw down a rope, and I climbed up. 'Why can't you leave?' I asked her. She said a witch had cursed her to remain trapped in the tower and she could never leave. So I stayed to comfort her." His attention went to the food before him so he could distract his facial expressions in memory. "I don't need to tell you want transpired, but by the next morning, I discovered her trickery. She wasn't Rapunzel, but the witch, Gothel. Rapunzel, the clever lass, had trapped Gothel in the tower some years before." He shook his head and took a bite of the meat. He found he was still angry about the trickery but he couldn't regret anything as the deception had given him Alice. So conflicted he was, that he avoided Zelena's gaze as he chewed. "Gothel was able to leave the tower because of..." And he waved at his body to leave the sentence unfinished. He looked back at Zelena with a stern expression on his face. "So as you may empathize, I do not trust witches completely lest I'm tricked again." Not that it had been Zelena's fault in the least, or that he could expect all witches to be deceptive, but he wasn't going to trust any with private information to include Alice.

Zelena  
“Well, your youth in a vial that I managed to give back to you corrected not only the problem of your physical appearance but also of your clothing. Be assured you look… much better in leather; or a shirt and pants.” She grinned at him, and watched him filling his own plate.

Zelena thought he might not want to tell his story again, but he did. She took her time and listened carefully to everything he said, especially when he gave away more details.  
So what she heard was that he had obviously spent the night with that Rapunzel, and for some reason he had done something, or had given her something (probably unintentional) that allowed the witch to leave. A witch… interesting.  
Although he had told her she had stolen his ‘youth’ she didn’t believe him. Not anymore. She knew a trapped witch in a tower didn’t need anyone’s youth to escape. There was either squid ink involved, but she wouldn’t have been able to move anymore when she had lowered a rope to him, or blood magic. Blood magic…

Zelena’s head and also her body came up slightly when she began to put the pieces together. Blood magic could trap powerful beings, and the only way to escape was to trade places with someone else. Someone who was blood related. It was similar to the Dark One - to become the Dark One, someone had to kill the Dark One with his own dagger and trade places.  
She looked at the pirate and things became more clear now.

_All magic comes with a price_, she recited mumbling. It had been one of Rumple’s first lesson.  
The puzzle was almost complete. Someone else was in the tower now, someone blood related to Gothel and someone who was also connected to Killian in what way ever. She didn’t dare to jump to conclusions without proof, but the signs were there.  
Zelena kept a friendly expression that wouldn’t reveal what she had probably just figured out.

He had indeed given away enough. Killian knew for sure a lot about women. He knew how to flatter them, how to make them fall for his charm and him, and he clearly prevailed over Zelena in that aspect . She had to accept that, but there was one thing he certainly couldn’t match with her - and that was her skill in magic.  
Of course he might know that she was powerful, but maybe he had underestimated her knowledge. Zelena often met people who thought magic was the combination of having the power, then learn some spells and recite them.

They couldn’t be more wrong. Magic was about control, emotions, and the ability to create, scratch on the edge of possibilities and sometimes overcome them. Magic was bound to rules, and Zelena knew she was clever enough to break them at some point. And so she had studied every single book, scroll or parchment about magic she could find.  
She had learned faster than any other student Rumple ever had (although he might not admit it), and she was curious to try out new things, find new ways and experiment.

She was still looking at Killian, probably for a longer time than it would be appropriate.  
She cleared her throat and said, “Be assured, I like the straight method of making people do what I want them to do. Let me demonstrate it.”  
His arbitrary act to sit down beside her had become an advantage now.  
Without any warning Zelena thrusted her hand into Killian’s chest, snatched his heart and pulled it out.  
It was pulsating, and felt warm in her hand. Zelena felt excited. She hadn’t held a heart in her hand in a long time. She could control the owner, she could make him do whatever she wanted, she could torture him and she could kill him. Power.  
But Zelena was used to power so she focused on the purpose of removing his heart.

“Your heart is now in my hands, and that means I could make you spill every secret you never want to even think about anymore. But…I won’t. Just to prove it to you that I could do it…” Zelena held his heart close to her mouth and whispered to it.  
“Tell me if you told me the whole story about your heart.”

It was a tense moment although she was sure she had made a good guess. She just wanted to hear a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Nothing more.  
Something caught her attention when she lowered her hand with the heart, and she turned it.  
Her eyes widened, and she looked at Killian.  
Wordlessly she held out his heart so he could look at it, and see what she saw.

Killian  
Zelena mumbled something under her breath and Killian side-eyed her, caught off guard by the way she was staring at him. He raised an eyebrow as he chewed. Perhaps he should have known she was plotting against him, but when she shot her hand out after offering a demonstration, he was more than surprised. Fortunately, he had just swallowed his food, else he would have choked in shock.

The pain of her hand thrusting into his chest was over almost as soon as it happened, but it was the pressure of the organ being held that made his breath short. His eyes looked down in horror from Zelena to his heart as the colors swirled within. Red and black and... something else.

Just like when she had snatched out the old crone's heart at the docks, Killian thought this was it. He'd go out just the way Milah did. She was going to kill him.

Zelena was gloating about her power and what she could make him admit. He didn't believe for a second that she would offer him any mercy.

Without even thinking, he responded. "No," he wheezed. He dropped the fork he'd forgotten he was holding and clapped his hand over his chest where his heart should have been. There was no blood, but there wouldn't be. It was magic. Clean yet dirty all the same.

But when she held his heart forward for him to see, he was confused. He frowned as he looked down at it. Neither Milah's nor the crones had had any black in their hearts as his did. He expected that from the bad things he'd done, but that extra color puzzled him. "What the devil is that?" he asked, still wincing, when he saw the green mist circling around it. Worry crossed his expression if it was what he suspected.

Zelena  
“You’re the one who should know what that is,” she said and lifted the heart to examine it more closely by looking at it before she lowered it again. She held her other hand over it, and Killian would see a green shimmer around it when she used her magic to examine it.  
She yanked her hand back when a bit of the green mist in his heart came in contact with her magic she had sent into the heart, and Zelena could feel an intense pain for a moment. She almost dropped the heart, but tightened her grip so it wouldn’t fall. Once she had secured it she apologized to Killian.  
“I didn’t intend to squeeze it, my apologies.”  
She held the heart to his chest, and shoved it back inside. Then she leaned back.

“I can only assume the witch did a bit more to you than only *stealing your youth*. I also have a suspicion about what *kind* of magic this could be, but I have to admit, if it is what I think it is, I have only heard about it.”  
Zelena paused a moment, and looked at him. “You admitted that you didn’t tell me everything, and I believe you didn’t come here only to get your… youth back. You have a severe problem regarding your heart. How am I doing to so far?”  
Zelena didn’t smile as this wasn’t funny anymore. This pirate really had a problem, and her problem was that she liked him. 

She poured some more wine into his glass, and grabbed the bottle of rum. “I think you might need something stronger.” She used a larger glass than usual for the rum, and shoved it to his place.  
Her own glass was refilled as well, and she took a sip while she watched his reaction.  
“I’d say you have to make a decision.” Since it was up to him to decide she didn’t add a timescale.  
“You might have to decide if you do trust a witch this time.”  
Zelena leaned back, crossed her legs, put her fingertips together and tapped her pointer against each other. 

Killian  
He suspected he did know what the green shimmer was around his heart and his hopes at being cured after years of suffering were dashed away. He was nearly mesmerized in watching Zelena's hand draw near to it but when the mist caused her to yank her hand back, he noticed the expression on her face. He had no time to react, however, because he felt it simultaneously. Add on the pressure of her squeezing, and Killian jerked back in the chair, a gasp escaping his mouth as pain shot through his chest. His fist slammed onto the table top causing the cutlery to jangle. He was glaring, but only because his jovial mood he'd had for the past day had been squandered so soon.

She apologized for squeezing and he nodded and waved off her apologies. Whether she meant it or not, it was the poison that had caused the real shock through him. He knew that feeling and would never forget it even though it had been some years since he'd seen Alice and suffered an attack. It felt like death every time.

And then she pushed his heart back into his chest and though it hurt, it didn't compare to the shock of the poison. "Bloody hell," he muttered, brushing at the fabric of his shirt over his heart. He felt vulnerable and exposed after she had taken his heart and figured out what he was up to--even more than he'd realized himself.

When he felt he could sit there and remain calm again, he looked back at Zelena as she told him her thoughts on the entire matter. With her knowing he had withheld some of the story, he could only nod as she spoke. "Aye. You're right..." he answered reluctantly. But she hadn't demanded he tell her everything when she held his heart. It seemed she was giving him the choice on what to reveal. Even to go so far as to give him a large glass of rum. His eyebrows went up and took this as a peace offering.

Trust a witch? She could have done so much worse to him with his heart. He'd felt the power of her will over him. But she gave it back.

Looking away from Zelena again to compose his thoughts, he reached for the rum, and took a big drink from it. It burned in the way he needed it to, and brought his focus back. He exhaled loudly and leaned back in the chair again, tilting his head back as he looked up at the ceiling without really focusing on any of the intricate design work. "Suppose I do trust a witch this time. Are you proposing that you may be able to conquer a poisoned heart cast by another witch?" That was all he could guess at what Gothel had done to him. "You felt the pain I feel. It's... insufferable."

Zelena  
Giving him some rum had definitely been a good idea. Zelena intended not to forget that rum was probably a pirate’s best friend. No matter what mood he was in.  
Zelena watched him taking a large sip. It seemed to calm and also relax him, and his answer was yet a surprise for her. He was willing to trust her. It gave Zelena strange feeling. No one had trusted her so far, it was a new feeling, and admittedly - she liked it. Of course she would never admit it. His question however was not that simple to answer.

“No, I’m not,” she said. She tried to explain it to him. “You see, magic is nothing that is easy. There are rules and requirements, limits and restrictions, dark magic, light magic and other magic, and much more. Your heart was poisoned, I assume. There are countless ways of poison a heart so I can *try*, but not give you a guarantee that I’ll be successful.”

Zelena had never had such conversation before in her life. The wicked with tried indeed to *help* someone. What had gotten into her? She never tried to help someone as long as she didn’t get something out of it.  
“And of course there’s a price for my service.*If* I can help you.”  
Since she had no idea yet what she could need from a pirate except his services she changed the topic.

“The pain I experienced when my magic connected to the poison is very strong. That means it is not easy to find a cure. Provided you will tell me more about the witch, her magic, *everything* that could be useful, I might be able to find something or not."

Her blue eyes were scanning his facial expression. There was pain in his eyes, and Zelena assumed there was a personal story behind all this. Poisons were tricky, as long as she didn't know what kind of poison it was, chances were not good to find a cure. There were too many sources of poisons - from animals, plants, some created by magic and some even combined. She eyed him suspiciously; it would be a shame if he would die of a poisoned heart. 


	5. Chapter 5

Killian  
Killian waited and listened to everything Zelena had to say and what he could expect. It sounded like he couldn't expect much. She wanted more information and he was growing very tired of the subject after years of trying.

He covered his eyes briefly by rubbing his fingers against them, then sighed as he leaned back in the chair again. "There's always a price and it seems I've not paid enough already for the wrongs I've done. I'm not the only one to pay it, however." His jaw tensed as he eyed Zelena, consideringly.

"My daughter." He inclined his chin, daring her to try to threaten her, but Alice was gods-only-knew where. Zelena couldn't touch her. But he was only saying this now because he suspected Zelena was genuine in her offer to help. Unless there was a hidden motive behind this price she would require. "She's paid dearly over the course of her whole life. Born in that tower, trapped there as Gothel had once been. That was the price of Gothel's freedom. My daughter's imprisonment."

He'd forgotten the rum and reached for it again to take a calming drink from it. "A poisoned heart is as accurate a description as I can fathom. If my daughter and I are too close, I feel that pain again in my heart. The both of us are cursed to remain apart. Forever, it seems." His eyes looked away from Zelena as he didn't want her to see the emotion in his eyes. "I've wandered the realms in search of someone who could help cure me. I let myself waste away into the ragged old man you saw before."

Zelena  
His words that there would always be a price hit her, and when he revealed more of the true story she felt sorry for him. He was right, it was a terrible price he and obviously his daughter paid already, on the other hand Zelena couldn’t do anything about it. Not yet at least. However, she could also not allow anyone to think she had gotten weak.

And there was something else that bothered her. When he spoke about his daughter, there was this look in his eyes. Love, longing to see her, sadness and regret. It was the love in his eyes that Zelena bothered most. Well, not bothered, but she felt her jealousy rising again.  
Why did her father have never had that look in his eyes? All she had seen was hate and coldness.  
And here was sitting a pirate who had gone through hell as it seemed only to save his daughter and be reunited with her.

“I’m… sorry for your daughter,” Zelena said, and was surprised by her own words.  
Why had that pirate such an impact on her? She had the feeling she wasn’t the wicked witch anymore, but some girl in love. Her eyes widened when she realized what obviously had happened.  
Did she have a crush on that pirate? For real?  
Zelena felt her heart skipping one or two beats, and she had no idea what to do.

“Well, you’ve got your life back at least. I told you I’m powerful, and although I can’t promise to find a cure, I can promise to do everything I can to help you.”  
She looked away too, and mumbled, “Maybe we are a lot alike.”

Killian  
When she mentioned how powerful she was and her sympathy for Alice, Killian glanced back at Zelena and raised his glass with a nod of acknowledgement. "Aye, that you are. Thank you for what you've done, but I don't expect more. It would be too much to hope for."

He did not, however, understand her sudden sentiment that they may be a lot alike. He'd told her that he saw the same pain in her eyes the previous day when they first met, but she had cast him off then. Perhaps she was seeing it too now. Had she been cursed to be green?

"So," he said in attempt of breaking the quiet, melancholic mood. "What is it that you'll have me do for you next? You mentioned a price for your magic? It seems I already owe you." He gestured at his appearance. "I'm well aware there's always a price. Best have the terms of our agreement laid out in advance..." He raised an eyebrow, waiting. It was likely obvious to both of them that he didn't have much choice in accepting or denying any cost she required. He needed help and Zelena was the only one in years that was actually willing to help, even if he had a feeling she wouldn't be successful.

Zelena  
Normally, when someone declined her offer to help (probably because the price was not affordable), Zelena got angry and sometimes those supplicant did not leave her castle on the same way they had entered.  
In short it meant that Walsh simply dropped them out of the window. Death toll was zero yet, and it led to the fact that Zelena wasn’t bothered anymore with ridiculous requests.  
Not that she would let Walsh leave a single scratch on the skin of the pirate, but his rejection (Zelena understood it as a “thanks, but no thanks”) changed her mood. She was offering her help and he didn’t even want to give it a try. Hadn’t she showed him how powerful she was?

Zelena pouted for a moment. Actually, he did not only reject her offer, he thought she wouldn’t be able to find a cure. She wanted to be helpful and he… oh, this _pirate_.  
Zelena couldn’t know that her quickly changing mood was a result of her hormones that were… well, _overactive_ because of him.  
She took this personal and felt like he thought she was not good enough. Fine.

He switched topic, and so did she. However, she got confused when he asked her for the price.  
“The price for finding a cure you mean? Well, it would have been staying with me in my castle until I decide to let you go, but don’t bother; you said you don’t want to raise your hopes again, and you don’t expect more than you got.”  
She could see that he seemed to be confused as well about her words, and maybe it was time to finish dinner for today.  
Zelena felt her anger rising, and she didn’t want another argue with him. She feared that she would lose again.

Zelena stood up. “I intend to think about the _terms of our agreement_ in my private rooms. You’re dismissed in the meantime.”  
Without giving him the chance to say something (again), she poofed him back into his room.  
Then she fell back on her chair, and poured down the rest of the wine.  
Why the hell was he always able to confuse her so much that she shoved him away in the end and reacted to snappishly?  
Zelena shook her head, and yelled at the servants to clean up, and bring a bottle of rum to Killian’s room.  
Then she went upstairs to her private rooms, that were in fact in another part of the castle.  
She needed to think about all that had happened, and it was late anyway.

Killian  
The price would have been to keep him imprisoned again, it seemed. He scowled at Zelena as she decided that ‘terms of _our_ agreement’ meant that he wasn’t included in any decision making either. He raised a finger to argue, “Now just a minute,” he said, but his voice echoed in his newly appointed room. She had planted him back to whence she had already demanded he depart. He was sitting in a chair in exactly the same position he had been sitting in the dining room. “Bloody hell, infernal woman!” He yelled, standing up and kicking the chair across her polished floor. Or his floor now, it seemed. “Keeping me imprisoned here...” he mumbled. “Like hell!” He stomped over to the chair that had the coat she had provided him and despite actually fancying the cut and design, he picked it up and threw it at the bath she had evicted him from. It seemed he had no choice in anything!

He was fuming angry when someone dared to enter his room without even so much as a knock of announcement. “What do you want?” He demanded, but upon seeing the bottle of rum in the guard’s hand, he marched over to snatch it away. “Did your mistress send this to placate me? I won’t have it. Where does she reside? I’ll give her a piece of my mind about _our agreement_.”

The guard straightened his spine and shook his head. Killian could see he was about to be denied an answer, so he didn’t bother to wait for one. Instead, he smacked he guard across the face with the curved end of the hook and dragged him into the room, shutting the door behind him as he looked both ways in the hallway. No one else had noticed, so carrying the rum bottle, Killian snuck down the hall. He’d find Zelena’s quarters, nocturnal habits be damned!

Zelena  
Briefly before her magic transported him to his room Zelena saw he was going to object (raising a finger was a pretty good beginning to object), and she knew he was likely angry that she (again) had simply deported him.  
She even refrained from using her mirror and spying on him.  
Oh, she needed a break from him. He was constantly coming to her mind with that unbelievably cocky but sexy smile. Maybe a little walk would do her good. In the palace’s garden.

And there was her next secret - she loved walking around in her garden only with the moonlight spending some light.  
All the flowers looked magical then, they were bathed in a silvery shimmer, and it was peaceful. No one except her was allowed to go there, and she loved sitting on the bench of marble at the small fountain, or standing in the small gazebo.

Zelena smiled. She changed into her nightgown, and because it was a warm night she decided to go without her dressing gown. No one would see her, and no one would disturb her.  
She was light of foot with not wearing shoes and with her hair open she hurried toward the door that led into her garden.  
Her bare feet didn’t make a noise, and she knew her guards wouldn’t see her either.  
She left the door ajar, and for once she could almost forget the handsome pirate. Almost. She sniggered when she thought that she had told him that she had some nocturnal habits. He would surely _not_ think of this.

Killian  
Shaking his head, Killian rounded another corner into another wing of Zelena's castle. How ostentatious! There were more rooms than he'd wagered and none he'd found had the ginger witch who had become more infuriating than he'd also wagered. To think he had felt some empathy for her previously! To think he'd even thought she had cared enough to help him! He didn't want to give up, but he was running out of steam and wasn't sure where else to check except the dining room or the bring, but he didn't believe she would go there.

And then he passed a row of windows and had to take two steps backwards to look out. Down below, there was a garden and he could see the foliage and landscaping due to the full moon. And the movement of someone walking toward a gazebo, a shimmering dress trailing behind. "Found you," he mumbled with a dark grin. Squeezing the neck of the rum bottle he turned back the way he came. There was a set of stairs closer to the atrium of the castle, but he would be detected there and had thus avoided notice so far. He'd noticed a few other doors that had been cleverly concealed by tapestries and decor.

Her quarters must be one of the rooms by the gardens, he assumed and verified this by peeking around a corner to see that he was right. There was one stationed outside each door along that hall. Why were there no guards outside watching her, he wondered as he looked out the window on the bottom floor? Perhaps they didn't know she was out there meaning they wouldn't know he was out there either.

Carefully, he pushed the window to open it so he could climb through.

Zelena  
If anyone would see the wicked witch now, he probably would think she was someone else. Only her green skin gave the truth away. But in this garden she was at peace.

  
She enjoyed the beauty of some roses, and used her magic to from time to time to let new flowers grow.  
She picked up some flowers until she had collected a nice bouquet, and entered the gazebo to sit down there for a while.

Her mind was racing while she stared into her garden.  
The pirate of course. Why was he always in her thoughts? Why did she think so often of him? He wanted nothing more than to leave, that was quite obvious.  
“Terms of our agreement, ha,” Zelena snorted audible. She found a single flower and began to pluck off the petals.  
“Pirates…” she mumbled while she tossed the petals away from her.  
Maybe she should go back and have a look at him by using her mirror.  
Zelena decided to stay here for another few minutes before she would head back to her room.

Killian  
Killian was taking the grassy route towards Zelena. It was dark out but he could see well enough to step. In a way, he recognized that what he was doing was probably going to cause his heart to be ripped out again, but if he was going to be stuck in Oz for a time, he wasn't going to go down easily. He was damn well going to have a say in what happened in his future and no witch was going to keep him from his goals. He had a plan and that was the end of the discussion as far as he saw it. Why did Zelena think she had any say in his actions? Simply because she was powerful and helped him? Or because he had foolishly told her he had a soft spot for women in dire need when he was telling her about Rapunzel? Though he had seen a lot of pain in Zelena's eyes, he had been wrong about her, hadn't he? He was too angry to realize that he'd opened too much in the beginning with Zelena and she had cast him off repeatedly. And he didn't want to get killed in the attempt at getting his way either. Perhaps he should turn back and forget that Zelena had even helped him at all. But despite being angry, he knew he wouldn't do that. Not yet, anyway.

That was when he heard Zelena speak about the agreement and the mention of pirates with a derisive tone as she spoke to herself. She was even plucking the petals from a flower as she said it. Was she imagining plucking something off of him? His eyebrows shot up. Oh, no. He was not going to turn away now.

"When you said you were going to mull over the terms of our agreement in your private quarters, I did not expect it to be in a garden with a floral massacre occurring." While he spoke, he had come up behind her and set his hook over her bare shoulder as a means to keep her from turning around to slip her fast fingers through his chest. The rum bottle was set down on her other side to make a point that he'd gotten that little distracting gift. "So sorry I'm late for the discussion but you've sent me on the hunt, it seems." There was a touch of sarcasm in his tone for he could tell that she hadn't meant to be found. In fact, now that he looked, he noticed her bare back as well and the pale nightgown she seemed to be wearing, or barely wearing. Realizing how much of her was exposed, he was careful not to touch her skin with his now empty hand. No matter. He was there now and he wasn't leaving. "Now, tell me, what was it you were saying about pirates and our agreement?"

Zelena  
There was cold metal touching her shoulder right after Zelena heard the voice of the pirate. She flinched, but the hook on her shoulder prevented her from jumping.  
On her right side came the bottle of rum in sight she had sent him. His voice was calm, too calm for her taste, and she felt her heart racing. The sarcasm in his voice gave his anger away, and Zelena got angry too.  
How did he get out of his room? How dare he to enter her garden without permission? She was only wearing her nightgown and despite her powers felt vulnerable. And how dare he talk to her like this?

Zelena didn’t care about the hook on her shoulder, stood up, and turned around. The sharp tip of his metal was inflicting her a wound, but she didn’t even flinch.  
With cold fury in her eyes she stared at him. She only realized now that he seemed to have heard her mumbling. How long had he been lurking and watch her?  
Zelena felt the urge to punch him, but she didn’t.  
Instead she glared at him, and said “how the hell did you get here? Didn’t I tell you that you’re not allowed to wander around without my permission?”  
She was mad as hell, but not because he disobeyed her, but because he had seen her like this.  
He had seen Zelena, not the wicked witch. She was mad because she couldn’t undo it, and she was scared he would tell anyone.

She made a step back and felt something soft under her bare feet. Her bouquet. Now he had ruined her flowers as well!  
A sweet smell was slowly spreading in the room, and Zelena inhaled a noseful. Without realizing it she became even more emotional.

Her anger came out and she almost yelled at Killian.  
“It’s none of your bloody business what I think about pirates. But if you really like to know - _you_ are… a - a scoundrel! You make me fuzzy-headed with all your… your pirate charm! You don’t want to be here, but you promised. You _promised_!

The flavor of the flower was very strong now, and since it was a magical flower it had the effect on her that she was more willing to reveal her true feelings and thoughts. Of course Zelena didn’t realize it. She just wanted to let him know what he did to her.  
“I can’t think clearly anymore because of you, because you… you… you’re not like others, you don’t cower around me, and yet you don’t want to be here! You only wanted me to give you back your life, you - don’t - care - about - me!”  
She used her fists to pound on his chest (not too hard, just to indicate that she was angry), enunciating the last five words. God, he smelled so good.  
Zelena’s mind was completely clouded. She saw that pirate, felt her heart beating, and without any warning she grabbed him by his shirt, pulled him closer, and kissed him.

She had never kissed anyone before, and once her lips touched his, she didn’t want to let go of him ever again!


	6. Chapter 6

Killian  
"I suppose I neglected to tell you that I don't take orders from you!" He said, his voice rising after she began to yell at him.

When she took a step back, he dropped his arm and the hook from her shoulder. He had no intention to hurt her with it. He didn't follow because now she was really yelling at him, emotion filling her voice and it caused him to frown. When had he said the word promise? But he had said he would stay and work for her; it was the same thing. A scoundrel, aye, but fuzzy headed? He had no idea he'd had that effect on her. He took a step closer as she spoke and then she started striking him while she was near tears, he assumed.

There was a strange smell in the air that he took no notice of but it filled his sinuses and his eyes widened as he looked at Zelena. She was so vulnerable despite the emotion she was throwing at him. Did she not realize how beautiful he thought she was? Even when she first rode into the woods on the broom, fire in her eyes as she glared at him, he thought she was stunning. Perfect even after she had choked him and he realized how powerful she was. He had been in awe and he was now as well.

Oh. He had entirely misjudged her, lately. Not at first. He'd seen this side originally but when she continued to cast him away, he'd gotten angry. But now, he understood. He let her strike him, but reached to touch her waist to try to reassure her, but she grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward, meeting his mouth with hers. He was so surprised at first, that he let her kiss him without responding more than his fingers curling around the fabric at her hip.

He pulled back to look at her. Her eyes were shining and he recognized a need in her that he hadn't seen before. "Do you recall when we were first acquainted, what I said to the munchkins?" His eyes were roaming between her face, her eyes and her mouth as he restrained himself from doing more than slowly drawing her toward him. "I don't bloody care if you're the Wicked Witch. You're a woman and deserve to be treated accordingly. I'm here, Zelena, because I want to be."

The floral smell in the air combined with the moonlight shining down onto the silken nightgown she wore, and he thought he'd never seen anything more appealing. He'd forgotten all about how angry he had been. Clearly, it was a misunderstanding that didn't matter in the slightest at the moment. His heartrate had increased at her nearness and the smell of the flowers were intoxicating him where he could even empathize with her fuzzy-headed remark. He felt the same way as if nothing else mattered but that he prove to Zelena how he felt about her. His left arm drew her flush against him as he dipped his head to kiss a trail from her shoulder, up the delicate curve of her neck, to behind her ear.

Zelena  
He didn’t return the kiss! When he backed off she almost fell, but managed to keep her balance in the last moment. She stared at him. Why didn’t he kiss her back? He had kissed thousand women, why did he not kiss her back!   
She felt terrible, wasn’t she good enough for him? Why the hell didn’t he kiss her?   
She couldn’t think of anything else, and right now she wanted to die. 

Since she had not only inhaled the scent of the flower but stood in her with her bare feet the effect was even stronger.  
She almost missed that Killian began to speak.   
Her head came up, and her eyes focused on his eyes and lips, those wonderful, soft lips and his blue eyes. Zelena forced herself to listen to him, and shook her head to his question about the munchkins.  
What she did realize actually by now was his hand on her hip.  
Why didn’t she feel his hand before?   
The fact that he touched her was calming, and she hung on every word he said.  
He wanted to be with her!

Zelena laughed, a laughing that sounded like silver.   
He pulled her closer, and when he began to draw a trail of kisses from her shoulder to the sensitive spot behind her ear she knew how arousal felt. She had never felt anything like this before, and instincts took over (caused by the Aphrodisiac of the flower) and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her body against his and kissed him again.   
She wanted nothing more than to stay with him here forever. The fire in her felt so hot that she thought it would burn her, but kissing him was helping.

She wanted so much more, but had no idea what to do. She could feel his muscular body through their thin fabrics, and she wanted to see it. Her hands slid down his shirt, and she impatiently tried to simply tear it off. 

Killian  
The garden proved to be the perfect place to discover his newfound obsession with Zelena. She was pulling at his shirt and this encouraged him to pull the thin strap of her gown down over her shoulder. There was no time to talk between kisses and desperation. He had nothing to say nor much to think of anyway. He had one desire and it was to stake a claim over the woman who was so desperately showing her affections to him. He was starved of the attention from so many years of suffering and wallowing in his own lonesome self pity that Zelena's encouragement was a well to the parched.

He found a soft place in the grass beside the gazebo where the flowers were in full bloom and lay her down there. Thankful that she had rushed him out of his quarters earlier, he didn't have the copious layers of clothing he was accustomed to wearing and it was faster for him to shuck them all. His trousers hit the flowers which wafted their aphrodisiac effect like a cloud around them, sealing the fate of the entwined lovers.

Eventually, he would take Zelena to the room off of the garden which had a door left open, assuming it was hers. By the time the morning's rays began to filter through the tree canopy and into the bedroom where he had fallen asleep beside Zelena, Killian would sleep peacefully for the first time in years.

Zelena  
He seemed to want her as badly as she wanted him when he quickly freed her from her gown. She was bare-breasted now, only wearing her slip. And she didn’t care. Never had anyone seen her naked, but she didn’t feel embarrassed in his presence.  
He was skillful and Zelena didn’t even notice that she suddenly lay in the soft grass, surrounded by flowers, and without wearing anything anymore. She had only eyes for Killian and her hands on his body. 

He managed to get rid of his clothes quickly, and Zelena stopped thinking. Instinct took over completely and the garden was filled with soft moans.

There was a pain in the beginning, but it faded quickly and turned into the most pleasant feeling Zelena ever experienced.   
At some point she noticed that both were lying in her bed, and fatigue overcame her when her body needed to rest.   
The witch fell asleep with a smile, her arm placed over the pirate’s chest.

Sunlight was flooding her room, and she felt her head pounding. She didn’t want to open her eyes as she felt terrible. Her body hurt, and it took her a moment until she realized that not only her head was pounding, but someone pounded in fact at the door.  
“Ooooh,” she groaned again, and opened her eyes. How did she get here?   
She waved her hand and the pounding stopped when her silencing spell worked.   
“Go away,” she halfway shouted, and wanted to turn to her side and go to sleep again.   
There was an obstacle.   
Zelena narrowed her eyes, and tried to open them again. What the hell could lie in her bed that was solid enough to stop her from turning?

It took her a moment until she recognized a human body. A _male_ human body that was _**naked**_ as it seemed!  
Zelena was suddenly wide awake, and reminiscences from the last night came into her mind.   
She had _kissed_ the pirate! Not only kissed, it came to her, they had… done more!  
Zelena was in shock. Her heart was racing as was her mind. She tried to understand why this had happened, and after a bit of thinking she knew.   
“The aphrodisiac flowers!” What had they done!  
She looked at the pirate, but she didn’t feel regret. On the contrary. She remembered that he had given her the most pleasant time in her life, and she knew that the flower just had intensified their feelings, but not created them.   
Zelena was still staring at the man in her bed when she realized that _both_ had feelings for each other. Deeply hidden, maybe denied by both, but they were there. 

_He must never know,_ she thought. She was close to panicking. She was scared about her own feelings, and didn’t know how to handle the situation. No one must know what happened this night. What was she supposed to do?

Killian  
There was a pounding on a door that felt like someone was striking him in the head with the sound waves. Killian squeezed his eyes shut hoping it would stop. Had he drank too much? He recalled rum, but only having half a glass. "Go away," a voice said, and he was confused. He turned on his side to cram one ear into the pillow to block the sound. "You go away," he countered, his voice muffled into a pillow. There was more talking about flowers and he recognized the voice, but its proximity made no sense. Opening one eye he saw green movement. "Aye?" he said, still confused, and raised his head to see Zelena there. "What the devil are you doing in my quarters?"

And then he opened both eyes when he saw she was nude. He made another noise of confusion as he looked around, realizing he didn't recognize the room at all in the daylight. He was naked as well, he realized, and then he recalled what had happened. He hadn't been drunk on anything but lust for Zelena, a sort of madness claiming his senses. All it took was one kiss from her and he was gone. "Er, good morning?" He grinned awkwardly, not sure if the way she was looking at him was fear or regret.

Zelena  
“Your quarters?” The witch raised her eyebrows, and saw he was probably not aware of where he was. She grabbed the blanket and pulled it up, trying to cover her upper body at least.  
She didn’t know what to answer when he wished her a “good morning” after what happened, and Zelena said the first that came to her mind.  
“It’s about noon already.”   
She moved to the edge of her bed, away from the pirate, and was still staring at him. She remembered too well how wonderful his lips felt on hers, and his bare chest was still inviting to touch. Her hand twitched, but she kept it where it was. 

And then she came back to senses.  
“It...was magic. A flower. Nothing more. I’ll… go to the bathroom while you have time to leave for your quarters again.”  
Zelena could use her magic, she could yell at him, and she also could kiss him again, but she did none of that. She just made sure the blanket covered her when she went out of the bed (not realizing the blanket was covering him as well), and pulled it with her. 

She blushed when she realized that he was fully visible again, and without another word fled into the bathroom, the blanket flapping around her ankles.

Once she entered the bathroom she closed the door, leaned against it, and covered her face in her hands while she bent forward.   
_What to do now, what to do now_, she thought over and over again. A forgetting potion! That could work. If he wouldn’t remember… no, she wouldn’t do that. Actually she _wanted_ him to remember.   
But what to do… could she pretend it was “just another man” for her when he had been her first? Did he know? Chances were good he didn’t notice, but… 

Zelena sighed. Actually she had loved it. To hell with her reputation as the Wicked Witch. She could have a romance without losing her bite, couldn’t she?

Killian  
She corrected him on the proper greeting and he glanced, sleepily toward the windows. So she was right. He'd slept the morning away. With Zelena. She was pulling the blanket with her as she retreated farther away and he only watched as she attempted to cover herself and explain why they had both acted as they had. He wasn't too perturbed by the happenings of the night before. Perhaps only slightly because magic had influenced him, but it didn't seem that Zelena had bewitched him on purpose so there was nothing to be concerned over. She had bewitched him simply by being herself. She was vexing him daily and he rather enjoyed the challenge. It was inevitable that they would have ended up where they did.  
"Not a morning person, are we?" he observed rhetorically as her cheeks pinkened through the green hue of her skin. He found her beautiful even in just a sheet. He grinned as he laid back down again, his eyes on the ceiling as he processed what had happened. The door slammed and he rubbed a hand down his face. That slam was his cue to leave and to give her some privacy.  
Groaning, he sat up again and looked about for his clothes before he recalled that this had all started in the garden. As he trod naked through the foliage, he continued to recall what they had done together and the time he had spent thus far in Oz. What an unexpected journey Oz had become. None of this had been expected at all. Except that after he had arrived, he had seen a likeness between himself in Zelena, so he should have anticipated the instant heat between them. All he had needed was her permission and it had come in the form of a kiss. He wanted to kiss her again too. Aye, no regrets.

He found his clothing and Zelena's silken nightgown in the flowers that likely started this. No, not started. They already had chemistry. The flowers sealed the deal. Grinning, he held his breath as he reached for the nightgown and shook it out to dispel anymore of the magic pollen and draped it over his left arm. He did the same for his clothing and walked back toward Zelena's room to get dressed. As he approached her quarters, he glanced up to notice some guards peering out from the upstairs window where he'd first noticed that Zelena was in the garden. He waved at them cheerfully. What were they going to do about it? Nothing, he suspected as long as he stayed out of sight once he left Zelena's quarters. She had told him to leave so he would respect her privacy and go.  
First, he set her nightgown on the doorknob of her bathroom and bid her farewell. "Despite the magical influence, Zelena... I enjoyed the evening with you." He listened for a moment before turning to exit back through the garden so he could avoid being caught by her guards.

Zelena  
When he entered her quarters again the witch had mostly recovered. However, she stayed in the bathroom for now.   
She smiled, when he told her he had enjoyed the evening despite the circumstances that had led to the… events.   
Well, it seemed her worries were for no reason, he obviously liked what happened. Zelena’s smile widened. Why not fancy a pirate? 

She wanted to answer, but in that moment she heard the door close again. He had left. In that case she could also take a bath. Thinking more cheerfully about the night than before, she stepped into the bathtub, and sighed in relief when her muscles began to relax in the hot water. 

Ever since that night things between them had gone smoother. Not that they had started a relationship, but Zelena was more relaxed in his company. She was still teasing him, and on rare occasions Zelena probably annoyed him, but they got along much better than before.   
She never mentioned the ‘unplanned date in the garden’ ever again (that’s at least how she called it), and some time later she asked him to catch a scarecrow.   
The mission was a success, and later that evening Zelena raised glasses with Killian.

“I have to admit your pirate skills are priceless. Unfortunately I also have to admit that you fulfilled our deal.”  
She let those words stand between them for a moment, and took a sip. She had just told him he’d be a free pirate again, and she would be going to offer him another job.  
Although she tried to deny it, but she had secretly fallen in love with the pirate. She couldn’t think of a time before she met him where she had laughed so much; and had been teased as well. But she considered it as flirting.   
She didn’t want to force him to work for her anymore, she more thought about a… partnership. And most of all she hoped he would understand her true intentions and stay in OZ. With her.

Killian  
Killian raised his glass when Zelena did, and he had to chuckle when she complimented his skills. He raised one shoulder in a shrug. "Not pirate skills, darling. Simply tenacity to do as you wish of me." He tapped his glass to hers--since he'd continued taking a seat next to Zelena's at the long dining table--and took a drink of the wine. The truth was, he enjoyed seeing her pleased and happy around him and it only encouraged him to continue to strive for those moments in her company.

It had been somewhat difficult to consider whatever he was doing in Oz as employment, especially since that night in the garden and waking in Zelena's bed. He'd been curious about Zelena's opinion on the matter, but he was too much a gentleman to bring it up when it was clear enough that they could still be in one another's company without any awkward silence due to the intimate past they already had in their brief acquaintanceship.

Killian sat back in his seat, his long legs stretched out before him, one ankle crossed over the other in complete relaxed comfort. He contemplated what Zelena was saying to him about fulfilling their deal. He tilted his head as he swirled the contents of the glass around in a gentle circle which caused the deep red of the liquid to coat the glass. "By catching a timid little scarecrow? Certainly you've not grown bored of my company." He raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly. No, he suspected she wasn't growing bored of him because if Zelena was, she would have dismissed him via message delivered by one of her bothersome guards or that damned pet monkey.

He had a feeling she was releasing him from any expectation of employment. But he wasn't ready to go. Since finding out that his heart was still poisoned, he would be bereft at leaving just yet. He set his wine glass down on the table. "I have an idea. I'll stay until I hear word of... my daughter's whereabouts." He'd never mentioned Alice to Zelena before, but now, he trusted her well enough to let her in on that secret. "Her name is Alice and she and I have been separated for years." He kept watch for Zelena's reactions to this news, his fingers drumming on the tabletop beside his glass.

Zelena  
He was relaxed when she told he’d be off the hook (what a funny word play, she thought), and was obviously wondering why she saw the deal as fulfilled by catching a scarecrow.  
She smiled while she took another sip of her wine.   
“It wasn’t an ordinary scarecrow, this one will help me to cast a most powerful spell.” She didn’t want to reveal more at this point because she had a plan. A plan that would not only change her life completely, but maybe Killian’s as well. But she still had a very long way to go.

She frowned slightly when he suddenly brought up his daughter. He didn’t mention her so far, and Zelena wondered why now. She decided to hear him out before she would ask him to stay.   
Already in the second sentence he made it clear that he would leave again eventually.   
Zelena tried to mask her disappointment by drinking some more wine. It was about his daughter, of course it was.   
It was not that Zelena wouldn’t understand that he wanted to see his daughter again, on the contrary. She admired him for being so fond of his daughter, and simultaneously she disliked it. The all so well known feeling of jealousy began to rise in her, and she tried not to reveal her emotions. 

She took her time before she thought she would have cooled down enough to answer him.  
“I see. Well, of course you miss your daughter, but… if I may ask, what are you intending to do with your heart still poisoned?”  
Maybe he had forgotten about that _tiny_ problem.  
“To be honest, I intended…,” Zelena suddenly fell silent. He had just made it clear that he wanted to stay only for a limited amount of time, and that meant he would reject her offer. So why make it anyway.  
She felt like being thrown back in time without any magic, right to the point when he hadn’t been in OZ.   
He would leave, and she would be alone. Again. And Zelena realized something else; he didn’t share her feelings. It was single-sided.  
Then she remembered that she had to finish her sentence.  
“I intended to suggest to focus more on the poison in your heart so you can leave, see your daughter.”   
_Don’t care about me, why should you,_ she thought bitterly.   
It was her way to protect herself. She was vulnerable with having feelings for him, so it would be best to ignore them. Easier thought than done.

“I was thinking… of a kind of protection spell around your heart.” The idea just came to her. “I protected my heart, and it might be possible to do the same with yours.”

Killian  
"Do you think so?" Killian calmly asked as he lifted his glass to his lips if only to momentarily conceal the hope that her suggestion arose in him. A protection spell? He doubted that would work at all since every other thing he'd tried hadn't stopped the poison in any way. But he also didn't want to insult Zelena by saying so. She was by far the most powerful sorceress or witch he'd encountered since his run in with Gothel so there was a small amount of hope that she was right, but he didn't want to get too eager over it.

He averted his eyes from Zelena as he set the glass back down. "As I said, I haven't seen Alice in years nor have I any word of her whereabouts, so I'm in no rush to leave Oz." He glanced back up at Zelena. Did she even want him to stay? Perhaps not. He leaned forward, reaching out toward her but stopped at her placemat and tapped his ringed fingers on the material to keep from touching her if she didn't want him to. "Enough about leaving. I'm interested in learning more about what you intend to do with that scarecrow. Will you show me this most powerful spell?"

Zelena  
The young witch shrugged her shoulders. “I’d say you have nothing to lose, have you?”  
It probably wouldn’t work. She had never suggested it if she hadn’t tried to come up with something to finish her sentence. And yet, she would give it a try to help him. Bloody pirate. And yet she felt pity for him. 

Zelena narrowed her eyes imperceptibly. What was he up to now, he wanted to be with his daughter, see her, or at least know how she was doing, but on the other hand he was in no rush to leave?   
She saw his hand moving toward her, and for a moment she thought he wanted to place his hand on hers, but he didn’t. Instead, he was more interested in touching her placemat and he changed the topic  
The witch was confused about what to think about all of that.   
Ignoring his last question for now she asked, “So, what is it you want then? See your daughter or stay in OZ? I have the feeling you’re very eager to see her again.”

Zelena couldn’t handle the uncertainty. He said he was in no rush to leave, but he would. And the longer he would stay the more Zelena would depend on him, she knew. She enjoyed his company too much, and she also knew she would be constantly think about the day when he would simply leave her. If he would come back, maybe this was easier to handle, but he belonged to his daughter. Aside from a wonderful night caused by an aphrodisiac flower there was no reason why he should care more about her than about her flying monkeys. Zelena sighed. Thinking about it wasn’t helping, and she decided to answer his prior question.

“I won’t, because I’m far away from being finished. I don’t even know if it’s going to work. And I need some more ingredients before I can give it a try. Ingredients that are very hard to get. The scarecrow was the easiest part.”

Killian  
Why couldn't he have both? Killian watched Zelena carefully as she spoke to him about leaving to see Alice again or staying in Oz. The way he saw it, he had no reason to leave at present so why rush away? Zelena was confusing him, but he was no expert in women. He'd been slapped more times than he could count for one thing or another. Mostly deserved and he knew it. But Zelena was so different and challenging to him that any other woman he'd been with that he had no idea what to do. So he merely had to go by instinct.

"Of course, I'm eager to see her again, but I haven't a clue where she is. Therefore, I'm happy to stay here in Oz, with you." He was still leaning forward in his chair with his hand on her placemat. Perhaps she needed some encouragement to know that he wasn't ready to sail away. Sighing, he reached for her hand to squeeze in his. "I'd like to get to know you better, Zelena. We've experienced something profound that is based on something deeper within us." Here, he moved her hand so that it was pressed to his chest over his heart. The last time he sat in this position, she had ripped it out, but he was showing her that he trusted her now. "I trust you with my heart. Protect it and I believe your spell will work. But I vow to you that I'll stay here and help you find those ingredients you need."

Zelena  
“You are?” Zelena was surprised. Not because he wanted to stay in OZ, but he wanted to stay with _her_. Before she could find another explanation that she probably only thought it would be because of her, he took her hand and squeezed it.  
Zelena’s eyes wandered down to where his hand was still reckoning he would mean something completely different, but his next words reassured her hopeful feelings. 

Her lips parted slightly as a result of her surprise, and she was now looking into his eyes again. She felt him moving her hand and placed it onto his chest, right over his heart.  
He was trusting her with his heart? Zelena was about to withdraw her hand, but managed to wait until he had finished.   
His words had moved her, and she felt she was opening up for him again. She had been wrong. He did care for her. Maybe even in the same way she did, and he wanted to stay to get to know her better.   
But she couldn’t protect his heart, not in the way he assumed her to. 

She swallowed, and slowly withdrew her hand. She was touched, and there was no place for snappish comments after he had opened up to her.   
She bit her lower lip for a moment, and to prevent he would think she withdrew her hand because she didn’t want him, she took his hand in both of hers.   
“Killian, it’s… just a chance. I’m not sure if it works. I might not be able to protect your heart in the way you hope for. I’m… sorry I suggested it.”   
Apologizing was still something difficult, as she never apologized.   
“You don’t have to stay to help me find my missing ingredients. It would take years. That’s not a vow you should make, and I won’t accept it. But… I’d be… _happy_ if you stay here as long as you like. With… with me.”

There was a strange feeling washing through Zelena. Something she hadn’t felt in years. It was like a warm summer rain that ran along her skin, and began to tingle in her hand.   
She looked down, and her eyes widened. She gasped and stared at the pale area of skin on her hand that wasn’t green any longer.

Killian  
Zelena withdrew her hand and displayed a lack of confidence in herself over her abilities. He'd already witnessed what she could do. Even if he wasn't so sure of anything being able to cure him at this point, he was somewhat shocked that she didn't believe in herself.

His eyes moved down to her hand when she gasped and he saw something even more startling. A lack of green. His eyes widened and he blinked to make sure he was seeing correctly. Realizing it must be that she was indeed cursed and not simply a green woman, he reached out again and grasped her hand. "Zelena! Do you realize what this means?" There was something he could do specifically to help her. She had helped him already but aside from being an ingredient scout for her, he'd had no idea how he could be useful until now.

Grinning broadly, Killian stood from the chair, still holding Zelena's hand and drawing her up to stand with him. "This calls for celebration." He placed her hand on his chest, so she could see if they made any progress with her pigmentation loss but also just so she could feel how his heart was starting to race. He was truly excited about this prospect and he wanted to experiment. "Shall we dance?" He didn't need music, hadn't needed it at all when he taught young Alice to dance so many years ago, but for now, he simply wanted to hold Zelena close to him and move with her.

Zelena  
She was still staring at the pale spot where her real skin was visible, when Killian grasped her hand, and seemed to be really exciting now.  
She didn’t know how to react. Was she happy? Shocked? Or something else? She had been green for years now, and she had simply forgotten that she had looked normal once.   
Why did she suddenly begin to change back? She thought of Rumple’s words in his Dark Castle when he told her that he was still teaching Regina and that she was the one who would cast his curse. Although he knew Zelena was more powerful, and eager to get the job, he still chose Regina. She remembered the overwhelming feeling of jealousy and anger that caused her to snap at Rumple.

_”Wait. You don’t need Regina. I’m going to cast your curse,” she had said in a high-pitched voice. “She’s not nearly as powerful as me. She doesn’t deserve to have you teaching her.”_   
_Rumple had interrupted her here with beady eyes, glaring at her. “Careful, Zelena. What was it your father used to always tell you?”_   
_The words came to her in a moment. “No matter what you feel on the inside you always have to put on a good face.”_   
_She remembered that he nodded, and pointed his skinny finger at her. “You might want to take his advice. Your inside is starting to show.” _   
_This had been the moment when she had started to turn green, and Rumple had named it._   
_“You’re turning green, dearie. Envy will do this to you. And don’t wait up. This could take a while.”_

She remembered the scene so clearly, her envy for Regina had turned her green.   
And now she was getting normal again?   
She became aware of Killian again when he simply pulled her up from her chair.   
“Celebration?” Zelena still needed to figure out what happened to her. When he pulled her hand to his chest, right over his heart again, she could feel his heartbeat. It was faster! He really was happy for her.   
Zelena looked at her hand again, and she saw that more green vanished. The whole back of her hand was normal colored by now, and Killian invited her to dance.

“I-I’m not sure,” she said hesitantly. She was simply too shocked about the change. Not green anymore? Would it continue to spread? Could she be normal again? Or would she look like mixed up in green and skin-colored?  
She was still jealous of Regina, she knew that for sure, but it seemed to have become less important with Killian around her. He made her laugh, and he cared for her, and Zelena realized that it was _love_ that changed her back. It must be. No other feeling was more powerful than being loved. 

Once she realized that her lips turned into a smile. She was loved. For once in her life someone truly cared about her. This had been everything she ever wanted.  
Joy washed through her, and suddenly she wanted to dance with him.  
Beaming at him now she nodded, and let him do the lead as she couldn’t dance, and never have danced before. 

Killian  
Zelena seemed speechless. He could empathize since he had been rather speechless as well when he realized she had cured him. He was still grinning as he watched Zelena's eyes as she began to realize what was happening. And when she smiled as well, he chuckled. "What a beautiful sight. I already thought you beautiful before, but smiling?" That's what he was striving for. To either make her smile, or help her to simply be happy. He knew what it felt like to be cast out, after all, and he was certain Zelena had felt the same due to her circumstances. He didn't care if she was green or not, just that he'd get to see her smiling and happy.

He swept her along with him as he moved her away from the table. Joy filled the air as they danced. He didn't even notice when the servants took the opportunity to clear the table while they were distracted by dancing. Killian kept his eyes on Zelena the whole time.

Zelena  
She felt her cheeks burning again when he complimented her about her being beautiful and smiling. Her smile even widened. Zelena looked at her hand again and saw that the green vanished more quickly than before.

Zelena was taken by Killian into a new world now. It was so easy to follow his lead. When he started to dance she looked down at her feet, but found it wasn’t necessary anymore. Instead she looked right into his face, and could see the joy in his eyes.   
It was unbelievable. Dancing with him filled her with joy too, and there was not much she could do to improve the moment, except maybe for one thing.   
She made a whirling gesture with her pointer on his shoulder, and music filled the room. It would fit to their steps, and Zelena forgot everything around her. 

Her world was just him, the music, and dancing. At some point the music subsided, and Zelena looked at her hand. There was no green to be seen, and the same went for her other hand.  
She let go of Killian, and rolled up her sleeves, gasping when she realized that her arms were normal too.  
“Am I still green?” She asked Killian as she couldn’t see her face or see what her body looked like under her dress.

Killian  
Killian didn't turn his eyes away from watching Zelena until he heard the music begin. He continued moving with her through out the room, but glanced at the room they were in. A splendid castle she had, too. When he looked back at Zelena, she had changed yet again. In fact, it was as if he was looking at almost an entirely different woman. She was smiling and filled with joy. It was radiating from her. A reflection of this amazement would show in his eyes. He stepped back from her when she let go of his arms and was looking at herself.

Killian remained silently watching until she asked him if she was still green. She didn't know. His eyebrows tilted up as he looked her over appreciatively. The slightest shake of his head and he was reaching for her hand again. "Come and see for yourself, love." It was a good thing Zelena was so fond of her mirrors. He walked her over to one so that he stood beside her and watched her reflection so he could see her own reaction to what had happened.

Zelena  
He wouldn’t tell her, but took her hand and told her to see for herself. He led her to a mirror, and for a moment Zelena felt the urge to flee. What if she was half green? Or her face was the only part that remained green? Her heart was fluttering in her chest, and when she was about to step in front of it, she looked down and closed her eyes.   
She didn’t want to see a green spotted wicked witch! But wouldn’t Killian have laughed if she looked like that? Zelena tried to remember his look. He had smiled. Maybe it wasn’t as terrible as she thought it would.

She opened her eyes, and carefully let her eyes wander up the reflection of herself.   
No green! Zelena gasped when a young woman stared back at her, with pale, normal skin and not a stain of green anywhere.   
She lifted her hands to feel for her face. The woman in the mirror did the same, and Zelena was overwhelmed.   
“This can’t be me,” she whispered, and briefly looked at Killian before looking back at her reflection. When was the last time she had seen herself like that? It seemed to be ages ago. The last time she had been a girl, and now…   
She tilted her head and smiled. The young woman smiled back. 

It took a while before she could tear her eyes away from her own reflection and look at Killian.  
She didn’t know what to say. It was because of him, and she knew she should probably thank him, but that wouldn’t be enough. He had not simply changed her appearance. He had given her something more precious. The feeling of being loved.   
A simple ‘thank you’ was not appropriate for that. Since she had no idea how to express her gratitude she simply kissed him.

Killian  
"Oh, but it is you. A Zelena who I'd very much like to get to know better if you'll let me." He was still grinning at her when she turned to him and kissed him. Pulling her to him, he kissed her back, chuckling with happiness as he stroked her hair when he could look at her again.

A week of happiness filled the castle. The servants continued to be respectful of their mistress but it was as if an audible sigh of relief had lessened the terror that they had been living with. Killian hadn't enjoyed his time in one place in so long, that this felt like an entirely new experience for him. He enjoyed Oz, but it was because of Zelena's company. He could have lived in any realm comfortably as long as she was there.


	7. Chapter 7

Killian  
When the news came to Oz and his name had been floating around the harbor among the fishmongers, Killian perked up and approached one of the captains to inquire why they were speaking his name. Upon hearing this news, his eyes flew wide and he had to stand there for a moment to process it. "After all these years," he mumbled to himself. The captain that told him merely shrugged, but Killian paid the man for the delivery. He bought a horse as well and raced back to the castle. He had to find Zelena.

Killian ran through the long hallways of the castle searching room to room. “Zelena!” he called out in exasperation. Where the devil was she? When he finally found her, he sighed in relief. The green coating her skin had been gone for a week by now. Her pale skin was glowing in radiant beauty as she smiled at him. He loved her smile.

“News, love.” He gripped her hand in his. His heart was racing. “My Alice. I’ve heard she’s back in the Enchanted Forest. I must go and find her. She mustn’t think I’ve died after all these years.”

Zelena  
Killian was out for the morning, and Zelena had decided to do some garden work. The last weeks had changed her life completely, and herself too. She didn’t feel the constant anger and jealousy anymore, but was relaxed, and happy and smiled often. Of course she was most happy when Killian was around. He was the center of her universe, the sun. Thanks to him she wasn’t green anymore, and she had realized that the people of OZ began to actually like her. Some at least, but it was a start. 

She heard her name echoing through the castle, and put the plants to the side. It was Killian who was calling for her. Worried that something might have happened Zelena stepped out of the secret door to her garden, and walked up the corridor. Killian was just turning the corner and he looked excited and happy.  
“Has something happened?” Zelena managed to ask before Killian took her hand and gave her the news.

Alice! His daughter was found. Zelena didn’t know what to say. Seeing Killian so excited and joyful, happy that his daughter was in reach for him now, she tried to feel happy for him too, but that also meant he would leave her.   
Zelena managed to smile faintly. “That is great news,” she said, and simultaneously felt a lump in her throat.   
“When are you leaving?”   
It was a miracle she brought out the words without breaking into tears, and she did everything to suppress her feelings. She should be happy for him.

Killian  
Killian could see some emotion showing in Zelena's face as he told her the news and he realized he should have worded it differently. He squeezed her hand again as he spoke. "I want you to come with me. Will you? Come meet my Alice. She would be so happy to know I’ve found love. We depart immediately. There's a ship waiting."

He couldn't imagine leaving Oz without Zelena at this point. She had become such an important part of his life even if he was still learning about what made her who she was. Even the servants were captivated by Zelena's change. At least some of them. They would be fine for a time without their mistress, he was certain. And eventually, they might even return to Oz.

He knew that he loved her. It had struck him fast and he'd been enamored by her ever since the first time he saw her riding that broom and threatened him. He was grinning so broadly that he was certain she would be ready to go just as he was.

Zelena  
“Coming with you? Right now?” Zelena backed away as she was overwhelmed by this.   
Her subconsciousness heard everything he said, but Zelena only heard ‘coming with him, daughter, immediately, ship waiting.’  
Zelena shook her head. Leave OZ? She couldn’t leave, it had taken her years to become the ruler of OZ. People feared her, some maybe not anymore, but she was respected. What would happen if she simply left? She could lose everything, her castle, the control about OZ, her garden, her _life_! Giving up everything she had worked so hard for to meet his _daughter_?

Zelena looked at him, still shaking her head. “Killian, I just… my whole life is here, I can’t just leave to meet _your_ daughter!”   
She felt the pressure on her shoulders. He had said he would leave before, but not that he wanted her to come along. She wanted to be near him, but… did he know what he asked of her? And only for his _daughter_?  
Dorothy! Dorothy was still here, and if Zelena would leave she would take over, and set up the people against her. She would never come back! Her garden... she would lose her wonderful garden as well.

And then she saw a flicker of green in the corner of her eyes. She looked at her hand that she had lifted to gesture, and she could see a green stain.  
“No…” she whispered, and desperation, anger and jealousy were rising in her. She was turning green again! Because of his daughter!   
He hadn’t seen it yet, and she quickly placed her other hand over the stain to cover it.   
She was about to panic. She couldn’t leave, and she didn’t want to lose him, but most of all she didn’t want to let him witness that she was turning green again. He would be disappointed, more than he probably was because she had refused to accompany him.  
She felt tears in her eyes, and in her desperation she cried “then go to your daughter”, and poofed Killian right to the docks. 

Her hand had turned green completely by now, and Zelena turned around, tears running down her cheeks when she fled into her garden.

Killian  
"Yes! Right now!" He nodded, excited about all the things he could show her in the Enchanted Forest, but he didn't notice how Zelena might panic over the idea. When she said she couldn't just meet his daughter, he frowned, taking it personally. “Why the devil not?” he demanded. He couldn't understand what would keep her here or why she would turn down an adventure with him. She loved him too, he knew it. So there should be no problem.

He noticed tears in her eyes and he realized then, too late, that he asked her the wrong way. Of course she couldn't just give up her life here. But she lashed out at him with her own emotion and in the blink of an eye, Killian realized she had transported him back to the bloody harbor!

"Zelena!" he yelled but of course she wasn't in earshot. "Bloody, stubborn witch." He started pacing. "I just have to fall in love with the most stubborn of them all."

His sudden appearance was noticed however by someone from the Enchanted Forest. "Magic?" The little man's eyes flew wide. A plan was forming in his mind as he steepled his fingers. One of his crew spoke near his ear, the little man nodded. "Take him. Lock him up in the hold."

Killian never saw the approach until a black sack was thrown over his head and a punch to the kidney brought him to his knees. Another whack to the head and he was out.

Killian spent a painful week in the brig below decks of a leaky ship with rats. He'd managed to find out the course was set for the Enchanted Forest. He was planning on going there anyway. How convenient. He just had to get out of the brig before these zealots decided to make an example of him. "For the last bloody time, I don't have magic. I'm a pirate."

A sudden intake of breath from the inquisition had them all looking at one another with dark grins shared between them. "Oh, tsk tsk. You shouldn't have said that. Piracy is just as illegal now as witchcraft."

Killian glared, not understanding. The explanation was easy enough to follow though he still couldn't understand how such change had happened so quickly. He'd only been gone for a few weeks.

A new ideal had spread across the New Enchanted Forest. Because of the past mistakes of the reformed Evil Queen and the death of the Charmings as well as the well known fact that the Queen had been aided by pirates in escaping, no witchcraft or piracy were permitted in the realm. The offense was punishable by death without a trial. And since they had found a pirate, he would make a prime example for the others.

Killian shook his head. No, this was not how he was going to die. He still had Alice to find since she was in the Enchanted Forest. Or had that been a ruse to draw him out of hiding with Zelena? Now he wasn't sure. Angered by the potential deception, Killian waited until the ship docked. When they came to get him, he managed to escape by diving off the edge of the ship and hiding under the dock in the water until nightfall.

He still had friends in the Enchanted Forest but remained in hiding, donning the cloak again since his hook and devilishly good looks tended to draw attention.

Zelena  
Killian didn’t return nor was there a word of him. Once he was gone the green stopped spreading, but her hand remained green.   
Zelena saw it as a mark of shame. He would have come back if he truly loved her, but he didn’t. Not anymore. She had chased him away.   
The following week Zelena barely left her quarters. She didn’t eat, and she was mostly lying on her bed or sat in the garden for hours.   
The whole time she hoped he would come back and eventually she had to accept that she had lost him. It took another three weeks until she tried to go back into her life, but she missed Killian terribly. The castle was empty without him, and she was alone.

It was also the time when she realized that something was wrong with her.   
She had never been sick in her life, but since a few days she felt constantly sick and even her magic didn’t work to make her feel better. It took another month until she realized that Killian had left a gift.   
Zelena was simply shocked. She couldn’t believe it, but the signs were clear. And she could feel it. Her magic had confirmed it.   
She went through all emotions, and once she had accepted what had happened she began to search for him. 

He was like a ghost. Rumors reached her about a pirate who was a most wanted, and she herself did some digging by asking traveller, threaten him or reward them. It took weeks for her to locate him in the Enchanted Forest (at least she had a rough idea in which village she might have to look), and eventually she was ready to leave OZ, and travel to the Enchanted Forest by tornado.

Once she arrived she had almost got caught, and learned the hard way that witchcraft and piracy was a capital sin. So she disguised herself by wearing gloves, and always a long hooded cape. Her dress was a simple dress of a commoner, and she made sure she asked the right people about Killian.

One day someone had told her that he had seen a figure with a hooked hand, and Zelena got excited. The man had seen the figure vanishing somewhere near the docks between some empty halls, and when night had set in Zelena went looking for him.

Killian  
Someone had been after him for days. Killian was loathe to leave his most recent accommodations since the room was given to him without charge and he could eat what he wanted from the kitchens of the inn. That was the last acquaintance he'd had in the Enchanted Forest that he could ask for help in hiding his location. And now, with finding out that his name was floating around even more than the Wanted posters with a very crude drawing of him, he knew it wouldn't be long until he was located at the inn.

He took his scant belongings and drew the hood over his head as he left the inn. A time or two, he even had to adopt a false limp when some curious eyes turned his way. When questioned, he even spoke as he once did when he was older just to disguise his accent, but kept the hood to conceal his face. That annoyed him the most. Why couldn't he just be himself like the good old days? Or at his best when he resided in Oz with Zelena? What had happened to the Enchanted Forest where heroism and villainy co-existed in harmony?

Having no one else to give him aid, he had to continue with the embarrassing impersonation of his old self and use his last silver to purchase a room near the harbor. The entrance was down an alleyway, completely out of sight from the busy hustle of the market. He'd only been there for one night when, yet again, he heard rumors of his name.

For once, he was notorious enough that it seemed everyone had heard of him. At one time, he would have been completely flattered by the fame and it would have boosted his ego to unhealthy levels. But now, he had done nothing nefarious to have garnered such attention.

Now it was time to finally catch this person or persons that had been dropping his name all over the Enchanted Forest causing him great hardship in moving repeatedly to stay out of sight. He was beyond angered at having to run for so long. Waiting in one of the horse stalls, Killian kept watch until he saw a hooded figure, a woman in a hood, wandering past. This was no place for a woman so she was clearly out of place. He'd learned not to trust small hunchbacks, women, children, or anyone he didn't already know from before he went to Oz. Anyone could turn him in and had tried before. Therefore, he would have no mercy towards this woman either.

He stepped up quietly behind her and grabbed her by the right arm, his left arm around her other shoulder so that his hook was to her throat. Since his hook was exposed, he didn't bother disguising his voice any longer as he spoke with menace behind her at her hood. "So you're the one who's been speaking my name all over the Forest and causing me so much trouble. Any last words? They will be your last."

Zelena  
She was very careful when she began to sneak through the shadows, but she should have known that Killian would know that she was after him. Although she realized in the moment he grabbed her arm from behind, and held his hook to her throat that he didn’t know it was her who was looking for him.  
Zelena did nothing when he threatened her. Her last words? They better be good.  
“You don’t want to kill me, Killian,” Zelena whispered. They hadn’t seen or heard each other in months, and in case he wouldn’t recognize her voice she was prepared. Actually, maybe it was a good idea to give him an additional hint.

Zelena lifted her left hand and let a green bolt of light appear.   
“You would regret it.”  
Zelena waited for his reaction. She knew she had made a mistake by simply sending him away, but she had panicked! His request had overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t believe she meant not even enough to him after everything that happened between them, that he didn’t even care and _tried_ to talk to her. Now she was here, and she demanded answers. And of course there was a little surprise for him that he hadn’t seen yet.

Killian  
Killian almost didn't recognize the voice of the woman until she said his name. Frowning, he relaxed his grip somewhat, but still held fast to her. Then she created the green light in her hand and he knew. No one threatened him half as well as Zelena did and a shock of excitement shot through him. And also fear. If anyone saw that magic in her hand, they were both dead. Somewhat roughly, because he needed to see with his own eyes, he moved the hook away from her neck and pulled her around to face him. He dipped his head just enough to see the face beyond her hood and raised his hand and hook to push the hood back.

Killian's lips parted as his eyes confirmed what he'd heard. She was here! "Zelena?" he whispered in shock. He pulled her into him with a crushing embrace having missed her terribly, but let go immediately when he felt something between them. He looked down at the small belly and then at her, confusion etched across his face.

His chin rose and his lips formed a line. His face went into a blank mask. “You’ve… found someone else.” Then he looked away from her. “Why are you here?”


	8. Chapter 8

Zelena  
He seemed to remember her. The hook moved away from her throat and he pulled her around. Her hood was the next that he took off, and Zelena saw the surprise in his face.  
“Yes, it’s me,” she said, and in the next moment she found herself in his arms, hugging her to tight she almost choked. She made a gasping noise but smiled. So he was glad she was here! But from one second to the other he let her go, and his eyes wandered to the now visible bulge under her dress. 

Zelena’s cheeks were glowing when he realized that she was pregnant, and hoped he would be happy. Unfortunately he wasn’t. Her smile vanished when his expression gave clearly away his disapproval, and Zelena felt terrible. But it was his next words that really hurt her.  
She stared at him, and the anger was visible in her eyes. How could he even think that she could love someone else?  
She pressed her lips together, deeply hurt, and regretted to even come here.  
“I… just tried to find the father who left me. Don’t bother.”  
She turned, and while walking away she wiped over her eyes so he wouldn’t see the few tears of disappointment. He didn’t even consider that it could be his child. If he thought so poorly of her she was better without him. 

Killian  
How could she come here and flaunt a pregnancy at him? She may as well have slapped him in the face and insulted him. Killian watched Zelena walk away from him, but he didn't realize how much that stung even more that she didn't argue with him. He wanted a fight because it was easier than dealing with the emotion at seeing her again after all this time.

"'Who left... you,' you say?" he repeated carefully from where he stood. "You sent _me_ away, or have you forgotten? You sent me right into the clutches of witchhunters desperate to have anyone to make an example of. I've been on the run for the past year and a half, Zelena. Aye. A year and a half! So don't expect me to believe that you're carrying my child."

He hadn't even been really angry that she had used magic to send him away at the time. Being without Zelena and having no easy way to get back to Oz was what had frustrated him enough. He couldn't get close to a ship without someone recognizing him, much less ask for a ship that would use magic to travel realms seeing as any form of magic with dark origins was illegal.

His eyes were burning with need to be heard and understood that he'd been suffering without her for the last eighteen months. His cheeks were flushed with anger and a sense of betrayal, but more than anything, he wanted to simply close the distance between them and embrace her again, disregarding whatever had happened in the space between them.

Zelena  
The witch stopped, and turned around when he accused her of being the one who sent him away. She wanted to interrupt him, saying it had been his fault that she reacted that way, but when he told her that he had been caught and was on the run or one and a half year, Zelena was speechless. She also heard in his words that he _would_ consider it was his child if it hadn’t been for one and a half year HE said they were separated already.  
Zelena walked back at him. He wasn’t lying, he was far too angry for lying to her.

“You left me barely six months ago, Killian. I know I sent you away, but have you ever considered that you wanted me to give up my life within one second so you could be with your daughter? Do you know why I reacted the way I did? Because of that!”  
Zelena took off the right glove, and showed him her green hand.  
“I was turning green again because you suddenly wanted to leave. You didn’t even care about my life, you didn’t care what I had lost. All for your DAUGHTER!”  
She glared at him, and her voice had gotten louder.  
“I didn’t want you to see I was turning green again, I didn’t want to see the _disappointment_ in your eyes, and yes, I made a mistake, but I panicked!” 

She was shaking of emotions, and tried to stay calm when she put on the glove again to cover her green hand. “The harbour wasn’t far away, so I thought until you’d come back I had time to cool down, but you never returned! You have no idea how terrible I felt. I couldn’t eat nor sleep, and I thought you…”  
She swallowed. No, she wouldn’t say that she thought he would love her. She would make a fool of herself. So she skipped that part and continued.  
“And a month later I found out that _you_ left a gift! It **is** your child, Killian! You can’t be here for over a year, you left me only six months ago! It took me months to track you down, and now that I got here, you think I would love someone else? And even carry another man’s child? Do you really think so poorly of me, Killian?”

Disappointment and anger swung in her voice, and she added “ever since I made you leave I regretted what I did, but I thought if you… you would love me... you’d come back!”  
She now had tears in her eyes again, and was angry about showing her feelings openly. But she knew ever since she was pregnant she was more emotional than before.  
“I missed you so badly, and I wanted to at least tell you that you’re going to be a father again.”  
She stopped, and wiped once more over her eyes, unable to continue speaking.

Killian  
Her words felt like strikes against him and he saw how he had hurt her. Even saying that it was his child sent a pang of longing in his chest. When he had been captured, his absence without explanation had hurt her. His telling her to leave with him without consideration of how she would feel about it hurt her. And apparently his need to see Alice had as well.

Frowning, Killian took her hand that she had concealed again and pulled her glove off so he could see the green again. He glanced up at her eyes to see how she would handle him touching her now, and laced his fingers with hers.

Now, he could feel how his heart was racing at Zelena being here before him again and the fact that he was going to be a father again. Blinking several times, he was speechless. And this thing about a time difference. That was the easiest thing to tackle first as his mind was trying to figure this all out.

"I've been to many realms looking for a cure," he said carefully, "and some realms are affected by time differently." He shook his head again as he felt like none of that was truly important, and then burst into a grin. "And I don't bloody care because you're here, finally, and I believe you. I missed you too." He kissed her with the pent up emotion of the last few minutes and the last year and a half of running and loneliness, and when he pulled back, he looked her in the eyes. "I'm truly sorry for what I've put you through. I couldn't get back to Oz even though I tried because I do love you, Zelena. With the way the realm has changed, you can't speak my name without everyone trying to hang me. I'm quite notorious, you see." He smirked about that, hoping that his joking around would further eliminate the hostility that had been between them.

Zelena  
Zelena didn’t look at him because she feared she’d break into tears. So she was looking at the ground and tried to get her emotions under control. She didn’t see him stepping closer and flinched when he suddenly took her hand to pull the glove off.  
Embarrassment and shame washed through her when she saw her green hand - a stain that marked her to be nothing more than a jealous, wicked witch.  
She hated being green after she had turned normal again. 

Killian laced his fingers with hers, and in that moment Zelena looked at him surprised and fear.  
She had missed how he looked at her, despite what happened there was no hate in his eyes, but understanding and warmth.  
She just looked at him, and didn’t dare to say a word. She was scared to ruin the moment.

When he spoke, he gave her a possible explanation for the time differential, and Zelena felt even worse that he had gone through all of this for so long. But just when she thought his expression would now change, he would reproach her, he grinned.  
Zelena’s eyes widened in surprise, but after he said he wouldn’t care, and told her that he missed her too, she smiled.  
And then he kissed her. He kissed her like he never did before, and Zelena’s fear, her anger and her worries vanished, and the feelings she had missed for such a long time returned. Happiness, and love. She kissed him back in the same way, and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him as tight as she could. 

They parted after a long time, and Killian apologized, followed by the best he could say to her; that he loved her.  
The witch beamed and cupped his cheeks. “I’m so sorry I sent you away, but I really didn’t know what else to do in that moment. It’s my fault you had to hide all the time. I’m sorry I thought you simply left.”  
She leaned her head against his shoulder, and gasped in surprise when she saw her hand she had now placed at his chest.  
“The green…” she began, and saw the green vanishing again. It only took seconds, and her hand was normal again.  
“It’s you, it was always you, Killian,” she said, and felt truly happy again. 

She wanted to stay with him forever, but she became aware that this wasn’t a safe place. In fact, she could see some torches flicker in some distance, and they were coming right at them.  
“We should go,” she whispered, and pointed at the group of about a dozen people who seemed to search for something or someone.  
“Is there a place we can hide?” 

Killian  
Killian was still grinning happily when Zelena pointed out that her hand had gone back to normal again. He lifted her finger and kissed each one while he kept his eyes on hers just so he could see how happy she was as well. He loved her smile.

But then, in the distance, torches were nearing and Killian’s brow furrowed as he drew his hood back up. He nodded at Zelena, indicating she should pull hers back up too and he took her hand to lead her to his new quarters. “I’ve only just rented this space today,” he said to her quietly as they climbed the stairs. “We should be safe here. I’ve had to move locations several times in the past month, I suspect, because of a certain witch finding me easier than I would have liked.” He smirked as he looked back at her. “But I’m glad it was you searching, love.”

He pushed the door open and once they were both in, he pulled down a bar to secure the door. There was another door opposite that one that would provide an extra exit should they need it. It was why he accepted this place.

Feeling confident that they may have evaded notice from the mob, Killian pulled his cloak off of himself and hung it on a peg. His eyes moved to the most noticeable change about Zelena—her belly. “Just once, eh?” he asked, rhetorically. “The aphrodisiac flowers were quite powerful.” He scratched behind his ear as he looked up at Zelena with a slight smile. “Has the lad or lass been active?” He’d already missed this much change in Zelena and he could regret that as he had no time to prepare for Alice’s existence at all, but he added, “I’m glad you found me now. I wouldn’t want to miss a moment more.”

Zelena  
Zelena did as Killian said and hid her face under the hood again before he took her hand and led her to a hideout.  
“To make you feel better - it took me an amount of magic, gold and time to find you. And even then I didn’t know exactly where you were. I was lucky someone saw a hook-handed man vanishing between the warehouses. And although the man only _saw_ you, you knew someone was after you…”  
Zelena sounded proud of him, and followed him into a small room with another door.

She watched him lock the door they had just passed, and looked around. The place was barely large enough for two people to live here, but it would suffice until they could plan to leave.  
Zelena took her cloak off as well, and hung it beside Killian’s.  
By lifting her arms her belly was fully visible, and she saw his eyes wandering down to it.  
She nodded at his rhetorical question, and added, “The flowered weren’t the one that created new life; that was you.” She was teasing, and smiled at him.

He did the scratching thingy again, and Zelena beamed at him.  
“I don't know which gender the baby is, but about a month ago I could feel it moving.”  
While he assured her that he was glad she had found him, and that he didn’t want to miss a moment more Zelena had stepped towards him, and took his hand.  
“Here,” she said, and placed his hand to a spot where she could feel some movement. “Feel for yourself.”  
She let go of his hand, and didn’t move so he could hopefully feel the life inside her. 

She didn’t take her eyes off of his face, as she now knew he was happy about being a father again, and she wanted to witness the joy in his eyes like she had when she felt her baby move for the first time.  
It was the moment when she actually really became aware of the fact that another being was in her. A new life, someone she could love with all her heart and someone who would love her too. Of course she had hoped to find Killian, but since she couldn’t be sure how he would react the thought was comforting her.

Killian  
Killian kept his eyes on Zelena's as his hand was on her belly and after only a few moments of pressing, he felt something. Emotion filled his eyes at what they had created together. He hadn't had this experience for Alice so it was completely new to him as it would be for Zelena. "Thank you for finding me, love." He pulled her toward him and kissed her tenderly.

A moment later there were footsteps bounding up the wooden stairs and Killian turned his face toward the door. "Blast!" he whispered. "No time to dawdle. Let's go." He turned her toward the other door so they could run.

Zelena  
The witch smiled. It was a wonderful feeling having Killian’s hand on her belly and both could feel their baby move. Even more wonderful was the emotions in his face.  
“I think you wouldn’t have forgiven me if I hadn’t at least tried to find you; and neither would I have forgiven myself.”  
She cuddled against him, and returned his kiss.

Unfortunately their romantic moment was disturbed by footsteps that draw nearer.  
Zelena didn’t waste any time and followed Killian through the other door.  
“How did they find us,” she asked while they hurried down a staircase that led behind a building.  
Zelena decided to worry later about that, and knew they had to find a way to leave this realm. They had to go back to OZ.

Outside Zelena pulled out her wand to summon a tornado.  
“Grab onto me, and don’t let go,” she said, and was about to move the wand.  
A searing pain shot through her hand, and she let go of the wand. Her hand was bleeding, and hurt. She looked for the wand, but in the darkness she couldn’t see it.  
“Run!” She shouted at Killian, and felt another stinging pain in her neck when she followed him. Her knees felt like jelly, and before Zelena realized what had happened she hit the ground and passed out.

“Get the pirate,” a man shouted while he and three others reached Zelena.  
“Cuff the witch and tie her up,” he ordered, and without Zelena even realized someone placed an anti magical cuff around her wrist, tied her feet together, and her hands on her back.  
“Do you have him?” The man shouted, referring to the pirate.

Killian  
Killian was certain they had found them because of Zelena's constant inquiry as to his location and perhaps her summoning a green ball in hand as it wasn't exactly dull. But he kept his mouth shut. He hadn't exactly been inconspicuous either with as often as he'd had to move locations and he did have to eat every now and then. Lingering in the alley to kiss her as she deserved would never be something he'd regret either. "We're simply notorious, darling," he said as he pulled Zelena along.

But she stopped and produced a wand. Killian gaped at it realizing what she intended to do. As terrible as the Enchanted Forest had been, he wasn't sure if he wanted to leave the realm at once. He'd never found Alice, after all, but if Zelena could come and go with that, they could always return at some time.

The wand dropped from her hand and Killian stared at it without understanding until he saw the dart protruding from her hand. "Bloody hell!" he growled as he tried to pick her up to run with her, but he felt a sharp pain in his own neck a moment later. Killian fell over Zelena as he tried to protect her. "No! Let her go! She's pregnant!" he shouted but his words were slurring badly and he didn't know if they even made sense to his own ears.

In and out of consciousness, Killian was only half aware of trees whizzing by in early morning light. At one point, he saw the straw he was laying in and the word 'wagon' filtered into his fuzzy thoughts. Sleep felt better than thinking at all and he was out again for some time.

When he awoke again, he was in darkness with only a few candles showing him that he was in a brig, no longer tied, but still captured. Being on the run for a year and a half and they finally got him. He glanced around himself but saw no sign of Zelena.

"Ohhh, lookie who woke up. Just in time for your sentencing." There was the guard peering in through the bars at him with a mocking smirk on his ugly face.

"Where is she?" Killian asked.

"Whoooo?" The guard was playing dumb but it was obvious enough to Killian that he knew bloody well who he was asking for.

Now, Killian thought on this for only a moment. A single, pregnant witch would be in double the trouble for how this realm had become so stuffy on the new laws. Groaning, Killian stood up and limped toward the bars. His leg was hurting a bit and he suspected he may have gotten hit there as well. "My wife, you dolt. She's pregnant and your people struck both of us at the same time." He figured lying about being married to Zelena wouldn't hurt anything but keep her from getting stoned for being unwed and pregnant.

The guard was still smirking, unperturbed by Killian's temper. "Oh, they're going to burn the witch at the stake. And then hang you."

"You'll kill an innocent child? What kind of monsters are you people?"

The guard's lip raised but there was doubt in his eyes. Killian seized the opportunity. “Look,” he said, exhausted from whatever had knocked him out. “Hang me if you will, but leave my wife out of this. She’s done nothing. Just let me say goodbye to her, please?”

The guard sniffed and stood upright as he glared at Killian. "They're going to speed up her pregnancy so they won't be killing an innocent child." He rolled his eyes and left Killian there alone.


	9. Chapter 9

Zelena  
Like Killian Zelena was deposited in a wagon with straw, but she slept through the whole ride, and while the pirate was brought into a normal brig, Zelena had another destination without even knowing.   
While carrying her to the wagon they saw the bump under her clothes, and one man simply shoved up her dress to confirm what they believed.  
“The witch is with child, that makes thrice a bounty.” The others laughed, but were disappointed when they were told that she wasn’t far along.  
“I don’t want to wait months until she has her brat,” one said angrily.  
“Me neither, I need the money now.”  
“Calm down, I have something that will help us get our money within a day,” the leader grinned. “Aside from that, not even authorities would feed her through for that amount of time. I’m sure they’ll use the potion on her.”  
“You mean… speed up her pregnancy?” That question came from a younger man. “Isn’t that forbidden?”  
“Idiot, **we** don’t _do_ magic, we just _use_ it. You better not think about it.”  
The young man lowered his head and kept silent.

When Zelena woke up slowly the first she mumbled was Killian’s name. She was lying on a cot in a cell. The cell was larger than usual and a strange designed chair occupied almost a quarter of it. Zelena was too dizzy yet to understand where she was and why she was here, and she preferred to close her eyes again until she was more awake.

“Open your eyes, witch, I know you’re awake,” a voice sounded, and Zelena blinked before she did so. She felt up to bring herself into a sitting position and looked for Killian.  
“Where is he, where is the pirate,” she demanded to know, although her voice was still weak.   
“You will see him soon, but first, you have to drink something.”  
Zelena could hear the clicking of the key in the door, and a squeak when the heavy iron door was opened.  
Standing up was not an option at the moment, so she stayed on the cot. She was still dizzy and whatever had knocked her out was still in her system.

“Here, drink this, and you’ll see your pirate sooner than you think.” The man laughed and held out a cup with a liquid.  
“What is this,” she asked, and was tempted to take it as she was indeed thirsty. But she resisted as the man had said she would _need_ to drink something first.  
The fogginess in Zelena’s head vanished and she slowly came back to senses.  
“That’s no water,” she said, and shoved it away.  
“You will drink this,” the man demanded, and Zelena lifted her hands, ready to throw some magic at him.   
“I’m a witch, as you said. And if you don’t want to die a painful death right now you will tell me where Killian is, and also what I am doing here!”  
The man stared at her, fearfully to Zelena’s satisfaction, but then grinned at her.   
“I’d like you to try, witch.” He scrutinized her, and waited.  
Zelena didn’t give him a second warning, conjured a fireball and threw it directly at him. That was at least what _should_ happen. 

Dumbfounded she stared at her hand. There was no green fireball. She tried again, but she couldn’t access her magic.  
Then she saw a leather cuff around her wrist that hadn’t been there before. She tried to pull it off, but she couldn’t.  
“What did you do to me,” she ranted at the man, but he only laughed.   
“Do you really think we wouldn’t have ways to suppress magic? Now really, that was amusing. And now… drink this.”  
He held it out to her again, and Zelena sniffed at it first. She immediately knew there was something in there that would do something to her.  
“No thanks. In case you didn’t notice, I’m pregnant and I will surely not drink anything that contains a potion.”  
“Oh you really should obey, because if you don’t drink it right away I have to force you.”  
“Don’t come any close to me, I might not have magic, but if you touch me I’ll kill you with my bare hands!”

The man gave her a pity look, sighed, and placed the cup onto the strange looking chair.  
The fight was over before it even began, and Zelena found herself standing upright against the wall, her hands restrained over her head in some iron chains that were attached to the wall. She couldn’t move anymore.   
“Why does it always have to be that way,” the man said and got the cup again.  
“Now, please drink.” He held the cup against Zelena’s lips, but she turned her head away.  
The man rolled his eyes, his hand squeezed her mouth open and poured the liquid into her throat. To make sure that Zelena would swallow it he placed his hand over her mouth and nose until he felt her swallow and struggle for breath.  
He withdrew his hand, and Zelena gasped and coughed.

The potion will work on you soon. It might get a bit painful, so... to prevent you from hurting yourself I’ll leave you as you are. And for causing me unnecessary trouble, witch.”  
He headed to the door.  
“Wait, you can’t leave me chained to the wall! And what the hell is that potion doing to me?”  
Zelena was scared and furious at the same time. Scared for her unborn child, and furious that she couldn’t do anything.  
“I want to see the pirate!”   
The man locked her up again, and grinned. “You’ll see. Surprise!”  
Then he left.

Killian  
"Zelena!" Killian shouted with his face pressed against the bars. He had no idea if they were in the same brig at all, but he hoped for some answer besides the echo of his own voice.

Pacing in the small cell did little to calm his nerves. Even the pain in his leg was nothing compared to the terror that was slowly overtaking the pirate. He'd lived for centuries and now it seemed it was almost the end and he was taking Zelena down with him. She never should have come for him. But he couldn't deny to himself that he was glad to have seen her again, even briefly. And to have felt the curve of new life growing in her belly.

He set his forehead against the bar and shut his eyes so to recall how Zelena had smiled at him as he felt the solidness of the baby within. It was too bloody bad he might never lay eyes on his second child.

A few moments later, a shuffling noise began echoing through the dark corridor and a dim light from a torch began to brighten. Someone was coming. The same guard returned along with a second. He shoved a pair of manacles through the bars. "Put these on your ankles. Then you can come along and see the witch."

"Oh, nothing for my wrists?" he asked with a trace of sarcasm and raised  
his lip in a sneer.

"What do you think we are? Idiots? Put on the manacles. If you don't cooperate, you don't get to see the witch."

Killian snatched the iron manacles and snapped one on each ankle over his boots. The door was opened afterward and the manacles were double checked to be latched shut properly. Then, at sword point, he was made to walk down the dark corridor, hopefully to Zelena.

Zelena  
A long time passed without anything happening to Zelena. With her arms chained to the wall over her head it was getting more and more uncomfortable and her back arched. Her attempts to get out of the manacles failed, she only managed to chafe her wrists. The cuff wouldn’t fall of either, and Zelena gave up.  
She was all alone and thought of Killian. At least he seemed to be still alive, otherwise the man hadn’t told her that she would see him soon. More than ever Zelena wanted nothing more than to see him, and feel his comforting presence. If she was honest with herself - she was scared like hell.   
Tied upright to the wall and stretched out made her belly visible, and Zelena wondered how long she could endure this.   
She listened into the darkness but all she could hear was a distant clanking noise from time to time, and her own breathing.

She must be in a large prison. She could barely make out another cell close to her own, but everything behind that laid in the dark. A single torch was spending some light outside her cell, and aside from the strange chair and the cot there was nothing else in here.  
“Killian?” She called into the darkness. Maybe he was in hearing range, but there was no answer.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually she could feel something was happening to her. Something bad.  
A stinging pain flashed through her body, and made her groan in pain. If it wouldn’t be for the chains she would probably have collapsed to the ground.  
“Bloody hell,” she hissed, quoting Killian.  
She had no idea what was happening, but it was getting worse.   
Zelena began to scream and struggled in her chains when she felt a terrible pain in her belly, and when she looked down she saw that she was swelling. 

“What is happening to me,” Zelena cried out, and screamed again when another wave of pain hit her.   
“Something’s wrong!” Zelena got really scared now. “Somebody help me, please! Something’s wrong with the baby!”  
She convulsed in pain and didn’t even notice that her wrists began to bleed from struggling like mad in the manacles.   
Her belly got bigger any second, and the pain was unbearable.

Eventually she could hear noises, but all she could do was scream.   
“Killian, help! Please!” She cried for her pirate and father of the baby she was sure to lose now.   
Her dress had become way too tight in the meantime, and a seam on the side had already burst when her belly got larger and larger.   
She was completely exhausted by now, and the weight in her belly pulled her down, made it almost impossible to stand any longer, but she had to.  
Her dress was now completely open on one side and Zelena feared that if she would continue to swell, her belly would simply burst open. Maybe that was exactly what the potion was supposed to do - let her and her baby die a horrible death.  
Zelena was all in tears and hung in her chains when she finally could hear footsteps approaching. 

“Well, that was about time,” a voice was to be heard.

Killian  
He could hear screaming coming from somewhere ahead and Killian began to walk faster, or at least as fast as he could with the damned manacles preventing him from making more than a short stride. It was obviously Zelena and Killian was gritting his teeth. Not able to handle this a moment longer, he turned on his heel and shoved the nearest guard into the wall, his fist connecting with the man's jaw in a satisfying crack. It was amazing they hadn't taken his hook from him, but he would count it as a blessing as he turned and swung it at the other guard, the metal striking the sword as it was swung at him.

The first guard tackled Killian to the ground and he fell easily since his legs were manacled together. While he was grappling with the man, something struck his hand and he seized it. A leather bag of something. Killian stopped struggling and stuffed the bag into his pocket. "I yield," he said just before the guard hit him in the face.

"Try that again, and we'll send you to the gallows without seeing the screaming wench!"

Killian winced as he heard her shouting his name. He shouldn't have dallied about in the corridor, but he'd grabbed something. Hopefully it would be of use, though he had no idea what it was. These imbeciles used magic even though it was forbidden. It had to be something.

Walking quickly and feeling a poke to his back with the sword, Killian didn't waste any more time in getting to where Zelena was held. "Well, it's about time," the guard said and Killian shoved past to see what he was referring to. What he saw shocked him to his core. Zelena's belly appeared to have advanced to full term and she was shackled to the wall.

Killian ran to Zelena, or hobbled at best with his legs manacled, and attempted to help her stand upright, to support her as she struggled. "Get these damned things off her! Her wrists are bleeding!" He glanced down, with extreme worry in his eyes, at her belly. They had told him they intended to do this to her but he couldn't have imagined it without seeing it happening. "Bloody hell," he whispered as he looked back at her eyes.

One of the guards shoved Killian aside and began to unshackle Zelena so they could move her to the oddly shaped chair in the cell. Killian stayed by her side as they moved her, wishing he could do something to stop this.

Zelena  
He was here, Zelena almost could not believe it. Killian was here and she rested her head to his shoulder when he was beside her.  
“Killian, the baby, I don’t know what they did to me,” she said with tears in her eyes. “Something’s wrong, I know it!”   
With him close to her and hearing his voice and feeling cared about Zelena’s panic subsided and she was simply scared. 

Killian was shoved aside and a guard unlocked the manacles that held Zelena captured. She winced when she felt her wrists burning, but it was nothing compared to what happened when she was placed into this strange chair.   
Her wrists were secured to the arms of the chair, and someone simply ripped her dress off so a woman could position her on the u-shaped seat and was free to work on her.   
Zelena knew now the purpose of this chair - it was designed for women giving birth.  
She shook her head and looked for Killian.

“Killian, this can’t happen, please tell me… ARGH!”   
Zelena bent forward and her expression was twisted with pain when the first contraction hit her. She couldn’t move her hands and she was shaking in pain.   
The woman told her something about breathing and pushing when she told her to, but Zelena couldn’t believe what happened.   
Killian managed to take her hand, and she squeezed it, never wanted to let go of him.

“I know it’s painful, but the potion is still working. It will be over quickly,” the midwife told her, and focused on her work.   
Zelena was already exhausted, and half an hour later she didn’t think she would make it anymore.  
She was deathly pale, and the pain was so intense that she was about to lose consciousness. She gave Killian an apologizing and weak look before she closed her eyes and wanted to give up. She was done.

“You’re almost there, don’t give up now,” the midwife told her, but Zelena had no strength anymore.   
“You, do something if you don’t want her and the baby to die right now and here,” the midwife addressed Killian.  
“Just a few more contractions and the baby is out.”

Killian  
Even though he didn't believe the words he was about to speak, he said it anyway for her own benefit, and with gentleness in his tone as he kissed her hair. "It will be okay, love." In fact, they might both die, but he had that magic bag of something in his pocket. If he used it now, he was unsure what would happen and decided to wait lest the baby or Zelena become injured by its contents.

He gripped her hand as she squeezed and suddenly this was happening. Killian had not been in such a situation before so after some time when the midwife yelled at him, he was gaping in shock at everything. Zelena's prior stripping down, the chair, the sudden realization that a baby was coming, and possibly not even into his life as he was about to be hanged, and the possibility of losing Zelena after just getting her back! The only thing he could do was set his forehead to Zelena's. "Darling, please. Don't leave me. You can do this. You're the strongest bloody witch I've ever had the pleasure to cross. Come on, love." He cupped her face and kissed her cheek. "I love you."

Zelena  
Zelena could feel the next contraction but she had no strength to push or even wince anymore. They were going to die anyway so why not dying together with her baby?   
It was not before Killian’s desperate sounding words reached her, and there was something awakening in Zelena. Hope and love. Maybe she was wrong. Killian was a survivor, and he was so happy about this baby… as was Zelena.  
His gentle kiss and his assurance he would love her gave her new strength, and she gasped for breath.

“I love you too,” she said, and squeezed his hand again. “Help me,” she begged him, meaning he should simply stay with her and hold her.  
“You stopped breathing for a moment,” the midwife told her. “Now I need you to push again.”  
The next contraction came and Zelena pushed.  
“I can see the head. Don’t stop now.”  
Zelena did her best, and finally she felt a relief when the baby was out, and she sank back in the chair.  
“What.. what is it? A boy or a girl?” She wanted to hold it, but she was still tied to the arms of the chair.

The midwife cleaned the crying baby, and wrapped it in a blanket.  
A guard stepped forward and intended to take the baby away.  
“No! Not my baby, please! Give it to me, give it to Killian! It’s our child! Don’t take it away!”  
She tore at her restraints, but couldn’t get out.   
“You shouldn’t move so much, you’re still bleeding,” the midwife said, and after giving the child to the guard she tended to make sure that the placenta was out.

Killian  
Killian felt almost light-headed at what transpired. This was an entirely different matter than sword fighting or even killing a man for looking at him the wrong way. This was new, innocent life. But he kept his feet on the ground as he saw the boy born into the world in a dirty prison cell. "A son, love," he said quietly to Zelena. His eyes fell to notice something out of place on her wrist. Was that what he thought it was? It had been years since he'd seen one, but he was sure it was a magic-blocking cuff. His hand stroked down Zelena's arm in attempt at calming her but his fingers caught on the edge of the cuff in an attempt to remove it. "Give her something to wear, for gods' sakes!" he demanded of the midwife. Miraculously, his fingers were able to peel the cuff off of her wrist with a slight of hand as he tucked it out of sight. Turning, his eyes watched as the midwife attempted to hand his son away. "Not so fast." Just as the baby was over the guard's arms and Killian gripped the guard's wrist. "He's mine." The guard wouldn't notice that he now wore the cuff. Killian didn't care if the man had magic or not, the damned thing would not be on Zelena any longer. The baby was pulled against Killian's chest, his fingers gently lifting up the blanket so he could see his face. Turning back to Zelena, he showed her their child. A soft grin spread across his face as he looked between them both.

The midwife had finished what she was doing and soon brought a blanket for Zelena to help her with the shock of loss of body heat.

"Enough of this. It's time to go," the guard said as he stepped forward and began to unlock Zelena's wrists.

The other guard stepped toward Killian and he took a step back. "We made a deal. My life for theirs. You'll let them live."

There was some argument between the two guards, but now that Zelena's arms were freed, Killian put the baby in her care. "It will be okay, love. Don't fight them. Keep him safe," he said in regards to the baby, and then kissed her. It was obvious this was happening too quickly and Zelena might still be weak from the speedy pregnancy and birth, but she should have her magic back and Killian had something of his own despite not knowing what it would do yet.

Zelena  
“A son? Really?” Zelena smiled when Killian told her about the baby’s gender. She didn’t take her eyes off of the baby, trying to catch a glimpse at her son. She squeezed Killian’s hand again, and suddenly felt that the magic in her was coming back. She gasped in surprise when she realized that her pirate had managed to peel the cuff off of her wrist.   
She felt her magic beginning to heal her, but she knew she was still too weak to use it now and free them all. She admired Killian for his talent to always find a way out of trouble, and she knew she had to wait for the right moment.  
He even managed to stop the guard from taking their son away. 

A feeling of pure happiness and joy filled her when she saw the baby lying in its father’s arm, and the delighted look on his face compensated for everything that she had had to endure.  
And then he turned the baby boy to her so she could see him. He was so perfect. Zelena felt tears running down her cheeks. Seeing their perfect little baby was the most emotional and wonderful moment in her life.  
“He looks like you,” she said to Killian, and wished she could touch him, but she was also satisfied with looking at him.  
Zelena was covered with a blanket when the guard said it would be enough. At least he freed her hands, and Zelena looked at Killian. Her eyes widened when she heard him talking about a deal he made, his life for theirs.

“Killian, no,” Zelena whispered, and looked down at her wrist to let him know she wouldn’t let him just being hanged now that she had her magic back. He put the baby in her arms, and told her not to fight, and keep their son safe.   
Zelena understood, and nodded. She knew the magic needed to heal her before she could do anything, and her son needed to be fed first.  
She kissed him back, and whispered into his ear.   
“We will be a family. I promise.” In case someone would hear her she chose her words carefully, and said louder “I love you. I always will.”

Holding her son close to her gave her the strength to let Killian go. Before he was led out of the cell she called after him.   
“What do we call him?”   
The midwife pulled Zelena from the chair, and she groaned, but looked at Killian, waiting.  
“Get to the cot and lay down,” the woman ordered her, and Zelena obeyed. With the help of the midwife she made it to the cot and sat down.  
“What about Killian?” She suggested, calling after him but was not sure if he had heard her at all.


	10. Chapter 10

Killian  
Killian sent a knowing look Zelena's way as he was being pushed out of the cell. His legs were still chained and they were rushing him, so he yanked his arm out of their grip so he could simply walk on his own.

Zelena yelled the question over their son's name, but he hadn't even given a name a thought. A few choice names flitted through his mind, but as he was being led to his imminent death at the moment, he didn't want to have a conversation while yelling down a corridor. He would see her soon and they could decide together.

He was pushed out into the open air and the sunlight was blindingly bright. So bright that he didn't see exactly where he was being led until his boots struck a raised platform. "Oh bloody hell," he mumbled as he realized it was the damned gallows already. "No chance of a last meal or last request, eh boys?" Killian said as if he wasn't too bothered by the circumstances, but his heart was racing with urgency. It was now or never. He'd seen how people are hanged. Their arms are tied behind themselves and he needed his hand to get at the magic pouch in his pocket.

The crowd was already booing Killian and calling him rubbish of a pirate and other such things that he paid no attention to. His attention was on pulling the drawstring of the bag open while it was still in his pocket. He wasn't having much success so he pulled it out and held it outright at the guard nearest him. The man's eyes flew wide. "Oi! How'd you get that!?" He checked his own belt seeing it gone and then noticed the cuff on his waist.

Killian was grinning as he backed away. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the executioner standing ready behind him and only looked at the last second because the crowd suddenly shouted out in glee as the noose was thrown over Killian's head and yanked tight around his neck. Wincing, Killian squeezed his fingers tightly on the bag. Some of it had begun spilling out and fell on his boots as he was dragged backwards to get into position.

"HANG THE PIRATE!" The people shouted.

Oh they wanted a show, did they? Killian was trying to dig a finger into the the rope to pull it off his neck. He could only manage a few gasping breaths. Unfortunately, he was also inhaling the powder in the bag without realizing it.

A sudden yank on the rope sent Killian sprawling backwards and the powder flew out of the bag and all over him. The crowd thought this was all hilarious and good entertainment. However, Killian was instantly affected by the powder. The cheering and screaming were making his head suddenly pound as if his eardrums might burst. His breathing was coming in shallow pants. His heart was threatening to burst out of his chest. A sudden yell of anguish erupted from his throat and the crowd silenced, big-eyed in watching.

The executioner yanked on the rope as if it was a leash and began dragging Killian upright to throw the rope over the top of the gallows. Killian was dragged along without fighting it as the magical powder was seeping into his bloodstream. Sweat pebbled on his brow and his fingers dug at his chest trying to pull open the collar of his shirt. There was no concern over the rope any longer as he was breathing fine. He simply felt as if his skin was on fire.

Without any delay, the bottom of the gallows dropped with the intent of hanging the pirate. The crowd began to cheer but suddenly silenced again as the hanged victim vanished.

Zelena  
Killian didn’t answer anymore, and Zelena was glad to have her son in her arms. She would make everyone pay for doing all this to her, and Killian.  
The midwife was about to leave, but Zelena held her back.  
“Wait please, I know you might hate me for being a witch but... thank you for helping me going through this.”  
The woman was confused, and stared at her. It was obvious she didn’t reckon with the witch thanking her, but she nodded.

“I don’t… condemn you for being what you are, but a lot happened here and people like you and the pirates doomed us. So it’s justified to stop you from harming us.”  
Zelena only nodded. She felt already better with her magic restoring her, and she said “I did things I’m not proud of, and maybe I deserve to die. But my son and Killian don’t. I know it’s the law, but… let me at least be present when you’re going to… hang him. I will never see him again.”  
Zelena needed to know when she had to be ready and hoped the woman would tell her.  
“I’m afraid you might be too late already. He wasn’t brought back to his cell but right to the gallows. He will be hanged now.”

Zelena’s eyes widened in shock. “No! I didn’t say goodbye, you can’t… PLEASE! Let me at least see him!”   
The midwife hesitated, but she knew the witch was harmless without her powers, and she would die soon as well. Whatever deal the pirate had _thought_ he made - the midwife knew the law wouldn’t spare a single pirate or witch.   
“You’re going to be burned tomorrow, so you’re going to see him soon in hell anyway.”  
The woman was determined not to feel pity in any way for a witch.  
“But… the deal…” Zelena stammered, and held her sleeping son close to her chest.  
“There are no such deals. Don’t get any hopes.”

The witch had tears in her eyes. She still needed to regenerate, she didn’t have the power to overwhelm the woman, the guard outside her door and open the lock. She needed more time, so she had to do it the non-magical way somehow.  
“Please, I _beg_ you, just let me see him. I’m going to be _burned_, just let me see the man I love one last time!” Zelena didn’t need to act desperately, she was desperate!  
“I am no threat anymore without my magic, I can’t even hurt you! I’m probably still too weak to walk, but still - please let me see him!”

The woman looked at the guard and he shrugged his shoulders.  
“Very well, but we must hurry.”  
Zelena mumbled a ‘thank you’, and the guard opened the door. Flanked by the woman to her right, and the guard to her left, who had grabbed her arm also to support her she was brought outside to witness the pirate’s death.  
She stepped into the sunlight right in the moment when the rope around Killian’s neck was pulled up.   
Zelena knew she had only seconds left to do something, but she was still too weak.   
“Killian!” She screamed over the mob’s shouts and saw in horror that the bottom of the gallows dropped. And Killian vanished.

“Where is he,” the guard shouted, and although Zelena didn’t know what had happened, she just knew things were getting worse now.   
Indeed the guard thought she had something to do with it, and yanked the baby out of her arms to be able to make her talk with force.  
Adrenaline rushed through Zelena’s body, and she felt her magic getting stronger.  
“Let go of my son, you bastard,” she hissed, and made a gesture with her hand that broke the man’s neck.   
The midwife screamed when she realized that Zelena had killed the man, and Zelena grabbed her baby, and hurried to the spot where Killian had vanished. She didn’t intend to be hanged as well, but she hoped to find a hint of what had happened.   
She managed to make her way through the mob without being noticed as the witch sentenced to death that was about to be burned the next day, and climbed up the gallows. Her baby boy was crying in her arm, but Zelena had no time to soothe him now.   
A man on the gallows was swearing about the pirate who had stolen his magic, and Zelena didn’t think any longer, but used the rest of her powers to poof her baby, herself and the man away.

They appeared somewhere near the edge of the forest, and Zelena glared at him.   
“Tell me what happened, what kind of magic did he use? ANSWER ME!”  
The guard winced, and backed away from the witch, but Zelena used her magic to to hold him in a force grip.   
“I-I don’t know, it was powder in a bag that gave me some magic, I took it from a dark wizard! Please don’t kill me,” he whined.   
Zelena glared at him while she tried to decide what to do with him.  
“No, I won’t kill you,” she said eventually. After all that magical bag helped Killian escape. Her eyes slid to the cuff he was wearing, and she recognized it as the one that was used on her. If she was right about the powder that made it possible for Killian to vanish she probably would need the cuff.   
“But you’ll pay for what you did to him.”

The man was found later when he tried hobbling back to the village, his ankles chained in the same way Killian’s had been and Zelena had stripped him of his clothes with magic after she had taken the cuff and vanished.

Zelena had to find Killian. Again. With her magic back it was easier now, and although she was pretty exhausted she only conjured a simple dress for her (she was still only covered by a blanket), and used a simple spell on her baby that wouldn’t harm it to locate Killian. After all they were connected. So Zelena just needed to hold her boy, and poofed away.

She appeared close to him, and without hesitating she flung herself into his arms.   
“Killian, you’re alive, everything’s going to be fine now.” 

Killian  
Killian was sweating, his hair was hanging into his eyes, and all of his senses were in overload. He didn't understand what was happening to him, only that he was no longer about to be hanged. While he was standing in the forest. He could hear animals in trees as they burrowed or chewed, a breeze rustling leaves, and even things under ground. The colors of the forest were oversaturated and it was all too much in combination with his heart racing and head pounding. The magic dust had done something to him and he was going to be sick. Leaning against a tree, he vomited the scant contents of his stomach. It helped slightly, but he needed to get away from the noise.

He could hear the sound of waves crashing in the distance but with no idea how far from the coast he was, he merely stumbled as he walked, gripping each tree for support as he headed that way.

Suddenly, he was being tackled bodily and Killian froze without realizing it was Zelena and the baby. His skin was crackling with magic that he didn't know how to handle. Without moving, Zelena was magically pushed back away from him, her back pinned to the nearest tree. Seeing what he had done, Killian's eyes widened in fear. "Stay back." His voice cracked in emotion. He knew he needed to get away from them before he actually hurt them and without realizing what he was doing, he vanished again. This time, he was on the coast standing in the trace amounts of sand that skirted the edge of the forest. The noise of the waves crashing blurred out the other stimuli that was assaulting him.

Zelena  
Zelena realized that something was wrong a moment before she was hit by magic, and was pushed not exactly gently against the next tree. Luckily with her back first so the baby wasn’t hurt.   
Coughing from the sudden loss of oxygen caused by the impact, she instinctively held her baby tighter to make sure it wouldn’t drop to the ground.   
She couldn’t move. Magic was pinning her against the tree, and her eyes met Killian’s. He looked terrible. Zelena saw that the magic that had saved his life from the gallows had fully affected him in a terrible way.   
She could see the fear in his eyes when he realized what he had done, and warned her to stay back.

“No, Killian, it’s alright, I can help…” Killian vanished, and he didn’t even hear the last word.  
“...you,” Zelena finished her sentence, and sank to her knees.  
Once Killian vanished his magic did too.  
Zelena needed a moment to control her emotions. She was still on her flight, and she knew if they wanted to survive and be a family, they had to leave this realm.   
But Killian’s condition was… worse than she had thought. 

“Shh, don’t cry little one,” she soothed her baby when it began to cry.  
“We need to help your papa before we leave.”  
Zelena looked around. She needed a moment to think about what to do, and her freshly born boy needed his first feeding.  
She walked deeper into the forest so she wouldn’t be seen from the coast, sat down against a trunk and needed a moment until she managed to breastfeed the baby.  
It was a strange, but wonderful feeling, and it helped Zelena to calm down, and think.

The magic that was now in his veins was unpredictable, and he must feel overwhelmed and terrible. But there was only one way to help him. Zelena didn’t like it much, but she didn’t have another choice.   
Luckily she had taken that cuff from the guard, she would need it now.   
She only had two advantages - the moment of surprise, and her experience with magic. This had to work.  
Her plan was simple actually. Appear somewhere close to Killian without him knowing, make sure the baby is safe and then… overwhelm him with magic and cuff him.  
Zelena could only hope it would work. The longer she waited the more he was affected by the magic and at some point Zelena feared she would lose him. It was not exactly light magic he had found there, she could tell.

When her baby had finished, Zelena poofed away again. This time she was alone, at least she thought so. She was still at the coast with the forest almost reaching the water. In some distance she could see a figure. Killian.  
Zelena looked at her baby. “I have to leave you alone for a moment, but I promise I’ll be back soon. Be a nice boy and stay still, will you,” she kissed his forehead, and wrapped him in a blanket. A hollowed trunk was the perfect place to hide him, and once Zelena had her hands free, she poofed right in front of Killian again.  
She hoped she was quick enough when she immobilized him with magic, and grabbed for his wrist, the cuff at the ready.

Killian  
There was something very wrong with all of the sensations filling Killian. He could barely think at all, but he knew he might have hurt Zelena. Barely thinking and reacting without intention was dangerous. But now, he didn't know what to do. Stay on the coast and wait until death struck him from this misery that was tearing his body apart?

A sudden motion in front of him in his hyper-aware state instantly caused him to take a step back from Zelena. The baby wasn't in her arms and fear mixed with dark magic heightened the power effecting him. "No!" he shouted, thinking the worst, and moved his arm out of the way, instead grabbing her wrist. "Where is he? Did I--?" His expression broke and he vanished again.

This time, he was in a village with no concern over who saw him as a pirate with a hook. The way he looked provoked fear in those around him as they quickly got out of his way. Some brave fools attempted to shout 'pirate' while pointing a finger at him, but the sudden shout would die on their lips as they found they could no longer speak without tongues. Killian scrubbed his hand down his face hardly aware of what he'd done.

Zelena  
Her plan didn’t work. He resisted her magic so easily and he acted on pure instinct. Zelena had no chance to place the cuff on his wrist. She was lucky he didn’t use it on her.  
The expression on his face combined with the question for his son almost killed her.  
Zelena knew that he must think he had harmed him, and before she could say anything he vanished again.

The arm she had lifted to cuff him sank, and she felt so desperate like in the moment when she realized that he had left her and didn’t come back. Actually, he just had done it again.  
“Damn it, Killian,” she shouted in frustration after him, and went back to get her son. He was still in that tree trunk, unharmed, and sleeping peacefully.  
Zelena held him close to her chest, and had to accept that for now she had lost her pirate. There was no way to get through to him, and she had to think of her new born baby first.  
She needed a place to stay, clothes for him, food and a crib.

It broke her heart to let Killian go, but she needed a plan and time to prepare. At least she didn’t need to spend weeks and months again to track him down, thanks to his son she always knew where he was.


	11. Chapter 11

Zelena  
Four days had passed since she had seen Killian. She had found a small room for rent in a tavern in a small village, and told everyone who asked where her husband was that he had died a few months before she gave birth. Most of the time she stayed in the room as she had to care for her baby. She only used magic when she had to, but made sure no one saw it and she did only small spells.  
Her son was healthy and slept a lot, but she still hadn’t named him. She wanted to decide about a name with Killian together and thinking of him she knew it was more than time to act to get Killian back eventually.

She had tried to follow his steps, and she heard a rumor too. Someone had whispered about a very dark sorcerer who appeared in the shape of a pirate. Since he mentioned a hook he was wearing instead of a hand she knew it must be him. And she was deeply worried by now.  
She looked at her baby son, and sighed. Last night she eventually managed to come up with an idea how to save him from himself, but that would involve her son. It was dangerous, but Zelena didn’t believe that Killian would hurt his own flesh and blood. And he would feel that is would be his son.  
It was risky, but her only option. And she would make sure he couldn’t harm him. At least she hoped she could.

So this evening she poofed into the village Killian was, and walked through the dark alleys. She could feel his presence and she knew he could probably too. When she felt him close to her she placed her son, who was safely covered in a blanket, on the ground and stepped back. She waited.

Killian  
Killian had spent days in turmoil. He was starting to understand what had happened to him. While the powder he'd stolen had somehow saved his life from being hanged, it had made him violently ill. Gaps in time were unexplained for a few days. One moment he was about to be hanged and the next he was in the woods, then the coast, then a village. People were leaving him alone in general which left him alone with his thoughts. Things were happening around him; when he'd merely think of it, it would appear. If he was hungry, a plate of food would appear before him. Someone told him to get off their doorstep, their home vanished in a steaming pile of rubble. No more doorstep.

Something dark was surrounding him and Killian became even more worried that some bad omen had befallen his son. He couldn't look Zelena in the eyes if this darkness from the pouch had hurt him. So he stayed away, choosing not to find her. It had to be dark magic that had been plaguing him and making him sick. Yet he didn't know what to do about it except stay away.

There was an unexplained feeling in the back of his mind that he would need to turn his attention a certain way to see what he desired but all he could see in that direction was an inn. Avoiding the feeling lest he cause some harm to whatever it was drawing his attention, he stayed away.

On the fourth day, the need to act and to go see what it was had been calling all of his attention brought him to the alleyway. There was something on the ground that held an aura of bright light around it. Curiosity drew Killian nearer to look inside. There was a shrill noise suddenly coming from the basket and Killian jerked back from it only to look cautiously again.

Zelena  
He was here, and Zelena swallowed. He looked different, and she could feel the darkness and danger surrounding him. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea, but it was too late now. And yet… he was Killian, the man she loved and the father of her son.  
Careful so she wouldn’t startle him again she stepped close, but still kept a safe distance. 

“It’s okay, take him. It’s our son, Kilian,” she said softly, and stood absolutely still.  
“He’s happy to see you again, he missed you. **We** missed you, Killian.”  
Zelena was nervous and tensed. The longer he was here the more she could feel the dark power of the powder that had affected him. But there was a cure… she just had to make sure he couldn’t run.

“I didn’t name him yet, I want you to decide about a name as well.” She tried to talk as calmly as possible.  
“You should pick him up, it’s cold on the stones. He needs your warmth.”  
Zelena’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point and yet she knew she had to stay calm.  
“Please Killian, he’s your flesh and blood,” she said when he still didn’t take him.

Killian  
When Zelena spoke, Killian froze. It took all of his willpower, weak as it might be, to not think anything since all of his thoughts were becoming reality. What he truly wanted was for Zelena to understand what was happening to him so she wouldn't hate him, but at the moment, he hated himself.

The noise came from the basket again, and his eyes turned that way. Zelena confirmed it was their son. He hadn't hurt the lad. Something broke in Killian with intense relief.

She kept saying his name as if he might have forgotten and the slightest grin turned up his mouth. His desire to assure her he was fine felt like a lie with the darkness cracking around him. He was anything but fine. "Zelena," he said quietly. "You shouldn't have come."

His desire to see his son unharmed was winning out over keeping him safe as his mind was growing clouded. Reaching out, he picked up the basket, setting the handle on his left elbow so he could pull back the blanket to see his son's face. His finger traced along the curve of the lad's cheek.

Zelena  
Hearing his voice, and the way he said her name let hope rise in her. She could see that he seemed to fight against his new nature. He was dangerous, but Zelena had faith in him.  
“I would never give up on you, Killian,” she whispered because she was now fighting her own tears. “I can’t lose you again.”

She kept her breath when he eventually picked up his son, carefully and caring. His movement was slow so he wouldn’t startle his son, and she saw his finger tracing down his cheek.   
Zelena had no idea if and when her magic would work, so she had to wait. And if it didn’t?   
Then she had to talk him into trusting her. Maybe this was the better method anyway. She was about to betray him. 

She could undo the magic, it was still time, because seeing him now… she couldn’t do it anymore.  
Her change of mind happened exactly in the moment when the magic in her son worked on Killian.  
She could see a blurry aura around her beloved pirate, and he couldn’t move anymore.  
Zelena felt a lump in her throat, but it was too late now. If she didn’t do anything now Killian would be gone forever. 

She had to be quick as the spell wouldn’t work long on him. She took the cuff out of her pocket and stepped closer so she could touch him.  
“I’m sorry, Killian, but I love you too much to let you go.”   
Since his arm was frozen directly in front of her it was easy to shove the cuff over his wrist. A yellow faint light indicated that it worked, and his magic would be blocked. 

She took her son out of his arms, and poofed all three of them away.

Killian  
Before he knew what happened, he couldn't move. Zelena apologized and Killian felt a sudden relief at the absence of the dark power that had been plaguing him for days. If he could have, he would have sighed heavily.

Despite being unable to move, he was grateful. The anger was gone, the fear was gone, and most importantly, Zelena wasn't afraid of him to take over.

A moment later, everything changed.

Zelena  
They appeared in the small room Zelena had rented, and she gave Killian a worried look. She had no idea how he would react, if the dark magic was still affecting him or if he was mad at her or whatever.  
So her surprise he was quite calm for now, but she was prepared in case he would begin to rant.

Taking her son out of his reach for the moment, she kept some distance.  
“Killian? I had to do it, I’m really sorry. I understand if you’re mad, but… you’re sick.”

He was still unable to move, but the aura that kept him immobilized was already flickering, and would wear off within the next seconds.  
Prepared for actually everything Zelena stood there, and waited until he could speak and move again.

Killian  
Killian simply stared at Zelena while he was immobilized. He could feel some sense of movement coming back to him, but he knew that the cuff would block the darkness from encroaching on him again.

When finally he could move again, his shoulders slumped in relief and exhaustion and he ran his hand down his face. "I'm not mad, love," he said gently. "I think you've saved me, in fact." He had felt deathly sick, indeed, but now, he felt stable. He eyed the cuff speculatively, before disregarding it. He had no desire to remove it and experience that hell again.

His eyes then turned to roam the room they stood in. He had a feeling this was the inn that had caught his attention for days and his eyebrow twitched in amusement. "I knew you were here. The magic... I could feel your presence." In a way, that was the only thing he rather enjoyed about the situation and he wouldn't mind having that ability again. To always know where they were in case they were ever parted again...

But the dark aspects of the powder had plagued him worse than he'd ever felt before.

Now that they had peace and were all three together again, truly for the first time, Killian took a hesitant step toward Zelena, his eyes pleading with her to allow him to approach. "May I?"

Zelena  
The aura vanished, and Zelena kept her breath. Killian did nothing. He just stood there, and looked actually tired. His words confirmed that the cuff worked even better than Zelena had hoped, and her heart seemed to jump in her chest.  
However, she didn’t do anything yet and gave him some time to adjust and breathe again.  
“I didn’t save, your love for our son and me saved you,” she said gently. 

She nodded when he told her about feeling her presence. “That’s a good thing magic can do. It was also the reason I was able to find you. Our son is actually the one who really connects us now. I was able to simply poof away, just thinking of you, and he guided me to the place where you were. Because you’re in him as well as I am.

She could see that he was hesitating, and made only one step toward her, still keeping his distance and asked if he would be allowed to approach her.   
Zelena just opened her arm, and made a step toward him herself.   
“Don’t ask, Killian, All I want is to have you in my arms again.”  
Zelena felt her emotions surfacing like a volcano, and she had some tears in her eyes when she finally had him back in her arms.  
“I missed you so terribly, I thought you’d die in that prison. I thought I would die too, but now we’re all together. We can fight everything!”  
She cuddled against him and enjoyed the moment. She knew it wasn’t over as the magic was still in him, but for now it was safe and she needed him more than ever.

Killian  
Killian held Zelena to him, careful of the baby as his fingers were surrounded by her hair. His eyes moved to the cuff. She said there were good things about magic and while he thought that quite convenient, he wondered what else he could have done if only he’d known.

Breathing in through his nose, he recalled Zelena’s scent in comfort. The baby had a new smell of course, and after a moment, he looked between them at the life they created and a faint smile pulled at his lips. “He looks healthy. You’ve cared well for him despite the sudden... changes.” So much had happened in less than a week to both of them. Some wetness fell down his cheeks and he realized he was happy for the first time in a long time.

Zelena  
The witch made a step back when Killian began to talk about their son.  
She held him up to him so he could take him.  
“I’m glad he is fine after they sped up my pregnancy,” she admitted. “I wish he had grown naturally, but... he’s alive, and I checked on him with my magic. The magic didn’t harm him.  
He’s a fine boy. Sleeps a lot, and is quite hungry. Just like his father,” she teased him a bit, but placed a hand on his arm to let him know she didn’t mean it.

The baby boy looked curiously into Killian’s eyes, and began to cry. He was hungry, although he liked being in Killian’s arms.  
Zelena thought it was a good moment to sit down, and prepare herself for breastfeeding. She knew what this crying was about.

“When you have admired him long enough, please give him to me. He is hungry. And you need some rest too. Why don’t you sit here too?” She patted the free place on the bed beside her, and waited for Killian to sit down.  
When he gave her their son Zelena let him feed, and looked at Killian. “He’s almost a week old, and he still doesn’t have a name. Any suggestions?”

Killian  
Killian took the baby carefully from Zelena, almost feeling like he didn't deserve this moment, but holding his own child felt calming. The moment reminded him so much of Alice at this age and he could almost see some similarities between the child resting on his arm and the child in his distant memory. He was in complete awe even despite the sudden crying. "Shhh," he said carefully as he remembered doing this with Alice as well. He recognized the hunger cry and nodded at Zelena as he approached to carefully hand him over.

The offer of a rest was more than welcome as the magic that had been plaguing him had sapped most of his energy while it was subdued by the cuff. Groaning, he laid down beside Zelena and settled his hand on her thigh in comfort. Though he could barely keep his eyes open after his tired muscles began to relax, he turned his face to the child.

"I named Alice after my mother. Family names are important, don't you think? My brother was the best man I've ever known. Liam..." His voice trailed off as he fell asleep in comfort and safety beside Zelena.

Zelena  
While Killian made himself comfortable Zelena thought that he was such a lovely father. The few moments he held his son had warmed her heart already, and now he looked happy but tired.   
She shifted her leg slightly so he had more space, and felt his hand on her thigh.   
Zelena smiled when he tried to fight the sleep that was clearly overcoming him very soon, just to see his son.

To name his boy after someone of his family was something Zelena could understand although she wouldn’t have done it with her family. She didn’t even know who her father was, and luckily the child was a boy. Not that Zelena had even thought of naming a girl after her mother.   
He had never mentioned his family at all, and Zelena realized that she didn’t know as much about him as she probably should. Just because she was interested in getting him to know better, that was all. She wanted him to be part of her life, and she wanted to understand him as he had become so important to her.

“I didn’t know you had a brother,” she said. “Liam, that’s…” she looked at him when his voice trailed off and saw that he had fallen asleep. She gently stroked over his hair, and whispered to both of her men.   
“So it’s Liam. Liam Killian Jones.” Zelena whispered her son’s name, although she would ask Killian if he would agree to name him after his father too.  
Her heart was filled with happiness and love when she saw both her men lying there so peacefully. Killian asleep on the bed, and Liam in her arms. 

It took a while after Liam was finished, and got tired. He fell asleep in his mother’s arms, and Zelena put him carefully close to Killian, so he was lying against his father’s chest.   
She grabbed for a pillow to make it more comfortable for Killian when she would stand up, and covered both with a blanket.  
She used the time to conjure some new, clean clothes for Killian in case he wanted to change, and went down into the taproom to get something to eat for both of them.  
When she returned she set the food onto the table, and decided to simply sit with them.   
She never got tired to stroke over his hair, and did so while she watched them in their sleep.

~ End of Story ~

**Author's Note:**

> This works has been written between three authors in a role play format. We are part of a group called Evermore- Once Upon a Time RP on an app and website called MeWe. We write in third person, multi-para format as you've just read here. We are searching for more writers who would like to come join us for more exciting plots. If that sounds like something you would be interested in, please look us up here: https://mewe.com/join/evermoreouatrp and apply for an open character!


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